Dark Wings Have Fallen
by Den Scurman
Summary: When faced with your greatest fear, do you stand your ground and face it, or do you blink? Then what do you do after that? This is a story of choices. Takes place 2 years after the middle of season 3 before the second batch of heroes. One-shot turned into an experimental writing exercise. Now with 100% more endings. Now COMPLETE! (B-D)
1. Facing Your Fears

_**Dark Wings Have Fallen**_

Darkness had fallen. As soon as he regained his awareness, he knew something had gone horribly wrong. The first thing he noticed was that he was on the floor. Last thing he remembered was that he was standing in the room, watching the Akuma battle Paris' heroic duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir. He vaguely remembered the Volpina look-a-like hero was involved, but his exceptional memory was unusually hazy. He picked himself up from the floor and retrieved his cane as he stood. Such an undignified position to find himself in. He once again stood at his full height and glared through the circular window. Sensing nothing, he angrily stuck the floor with his cane.

"They must have defeated the Akuma while I was unconscious," he mumbled to himself. What had happened? He closed his eyes and pictured what had happened. The Akuma was yet another fear-based creature except this one could fire solid beams of concentrated fear. Anyone hit with said beam would then see their worst fears brought to life, as in real life. As in that other people could see it as well. Instead of each individual whimpering on the ground in the fetal position experiencing their own personal Hell, their fears manifested in the real world and went after that person, but would be able to attack anyone else in the vicinity. This was supposed to be the start of a much larger plan to exhaust the heroes into submission, but getting knocked out really threw him off.

Oh, right, he had tried a new tactic during the battle. Instead of letting the Akuma do their own thing, he was directly controlling it. Things were actually going in his favor when Ladybug used her Lucky Charm. He knew that he had to destroy it before it even formed. He had the Akuma fire at the charm as it formed, and then…the floor? There must've been a serious feedback from all that magic being thrown around for that to come back to him. Well, lesson learned. No more direct control when attacking the charm itself. He would have to check on that amazingly useful Ladyblog to see what the result was from today's attack. Apparently it still worked, but what exactly happened?

Holding his head, he decided to go back to his office, but something caught his attention. His elevator was coming up. He hadn't summoned his elevator, yet. It couldn't be Nathalie. She knew better then to come up here. He stood tall, cane held firm as the floor opened and the elevator revealed three colorful figures standing back-to-back.

"So," said the black-clad boy wearing a cheeky grin, "this is where you've been hiding out." He face quickly lost the grin as he glared at him. "You'll pay for using this place as your base."

"You're days of terrorizing Paris are done, Hawkmoth," claimed the red with black polka-dot tights. "This ends today."

He stood still as the three heroes stepped from the elevator and slowly began to surround him.

"So," he said, doing his best to keep calm, "how did you find me?"

"We'll explain after we take that butterfly from you," said the foxy lady.

He rested his cane on his shoulder as he chuckled to himself. "I don't think so."

Rena Rouge, as he finally remembered her name, struck first. He cleanly ducked the swing of her flute and thrust his cane upward into her stomach as she flew over him, launching her into the air. Chat Noir followed up before he could take the fox down and blocked his staff with his cane. He faintly heard that accursed yo-yo whirl and saw the fox reeled back to her. He focused on the cat before him, somewhat impressed with the boy's strength. He would have to keep an eye on this one after he takes his miraculous. He would make a fine Akuma. The cat and butterfly exchanged several testing blows, each gauging the other's strength and skill. He found an opening in the cat's defense and struck, or at least he was when his cane was wrapped up in the string of the yo-yo. The bug pulled with all her might as the fox went in for another attack. He smirked. The cane layer slipped off without resistance, causing the bug to fall painfully onto the floor and hitting her head against the wall behind her. The fox, now seeing a deadly sword still in hand, paused just enough for him to send a sidekick square on the nose. In a brief moment he saw her eyes roll up as she was flung backward into another wall. The cat, shocked at how their plan had failed so completely, barely managed to block the sword strike, but at the cost of his staff. Three dodges later found him with his sword to the cat's throat, just barely drawing blood. The bug had finally regained herself and froze.

"I will admit that you have done well in finding me and putting up a decent fight, but it's over, Ladybug." He took a half-step to the side to show her that he had her precious partner at his mercy. He chuckled to himself once again. Mercy. "You friend is down and your partner is defeated. If you value his life you will remove your miraculous and give it to me."

She glanced about frantically as he'd seen her do so many times in battle and he tensed. He knew from experience how keen that tactical mind was.

"And if you dare to summon your Lucky Charm, Chat Noir will not live long enough to see what it is." Her eyes burned with fury as he applied just enough pressure to draw enough blood to let it trickle down. He noticed that he was lucky that he did, as the cat was just about to make a move to escape. He grinned as her shoulders slumped. His victory was assured. He held out his hand as he kept an eye on the cat. "Now, you're Miraculous, if you will."

The bug slowly took a step forward, then another, desperately trying to come up with a plan, but none came. He glanced between the heroes and motioned with his free hand. He did feel some regret that he was threatening children, but this was for a far greater good then the safety of these three. The bug covered her face with her arm as she took off her earrings, causing her transformation to fall. Clever girl. All he knew of her now was that she was a bluenette with twin pigtails. She did look familiar, but thought nothing else about it as she placed her miraculous into his waiting hand.

"Very good," Hawkmoth said as he glanced at the cat once again. The previous look of anger had been replaced with rage, but he still dared not move with the sword barely a millimeter from his jugular. "Now, step away and stand next to the elevator." The girl obeyed. The girl was no longer a threat. She was far enough now that she couldn't do more then maybe distract him if he let her. He didn't plan on letting that happen.

"Now for you, Chat Noir," he spat his name. "Remove your ring and slid it to me."

The cat shook with barely contained rage, but complied nonetheless. They had lost.

His eyes widened as the cat's transformation fell. The boy didn't bother to hide his identity, and at this point he wish he had. Hawkmoth took a step back, shaking his head. "What? No, Adrien?" He couldn't believe it. His son stood before him with his sword to his neck, drawing blood! His son's blood. "It can't be!" His sword clatter to the ground.

He was in too much shock to notice the movement behind him until it was too late. Large brown eyes filled his vision for a brief moment before his own transformation fell. The fox girl's unconscious body on the other side of the room disappeared. Adrien, still possessing his ring, slipped it back on and transformed as he threw a punch to his gut, staggering him back away from the former bug. Said girl raced to the now dropped earrings as the fox stood between them. Soon the three heroes stood side-by-side, the girls flanking the boy, as they stared shocked at the form of Gabriel Agreste on the floor, catching his breath after it had been knocked out of him. The cat's arms hung limply as his mind processed the situation.

"Father?" Gabriel glanced up at his son now hero, and he flinched. He had taken such pleasure in the pain that he had dealt that troublesome cat until he discovered who he really was. As for his son, his face wore so many emotions that it was impossible to know what he was feeling until it settled on devastated. "Why?"

Gabriel hung his head slightly before raising his head once more. "I wanted to fix our family, Adrien."

"How?"

"With yours' and Ladybug's Miraculous, I would have the power to bring back your mother, and we could have been a family again."

Chat's body began to tremble. "You mean that you terrorized the entire city, devastated families, destroyed people's lives, almost killed me and my friends, all to bring back mom?"

"You don't understand, son. I would've fixed everything once I got your mother back. Everything would've been perfect!"

"PERFECT?!" yelled Chat. "I've lived in your 'perfect' world where every second of my day is decided for me. It never mattered what I wanted. All you cared about was what made you or your company look good. Let me tell you, it was a living Hell trying to please you, trying every day to make you proud. I did everything I could, everything you asked me to do, but it was never enough for you, was it, father. If you really wanted our family to be whole again, you didn't need magic to do it. You only needed to love me as a person."

"I couldn't, Adrien. After your mother disappeared my heart disappeared with her. I needed her to come back, no matter the cost."

"That's too high a cost for me, father," he spat. "You need to be brought to justice, and it'll be by my hand. CATACLYSM!"

Everything slowed down as Chat leapt at his father, reaching for his face. He knew he wouldn't be able to get out of the way, and seeing as his own son was Absolutely Livid at what he had tried to do, he was almost glad to have everything done and over with. He saw the two girls shocked still, unable to react to their friend about to murder his own father. He couldn't blame them, however. He had played his hand, and he had lost. He was surprised at how well he was handling this, actually. Death was only a couple of meters away and coming fast. He had almost closed his eyes when he saw the hand of death stop just short of his face. He saw a blue-clad hand holding Chat's wrist. All eyes went to the owner of the hand to find a blue and teal clad hero. The blue gloves stopped just before the elbow, finding the teal outfit closing the top of the woman's body. The bottom half of her outfit was the same blue as her gloves, with teal boots. She held a fan in her other hand that she held to cover the bottom of her face. Only Gabriel recognized her. "La Paon?"

"There's no need for that, Adrien," said the warm voice of the woman.

"Who are you?" Chat growled, still unable to move his hand. He was surprised when the woman dropped her transformation. Chat's body flinched as his eyes widened, but still keeping control of the desctruction in his right hand. "Mom?"

"Mom?" Rena asked Ladybug as she gasped.

"Don't do this, son," said the woman as she glared at Gabriel. "Not without me, that is."

"But, Emilie," he pleaded. "I was doing this for us!"

"And you thought we could be happy with what you've done?" Gabriel realized that he had no answer for her. He lowered his head in shame. "That's what I thought."

She gently guided Chat's hand of death and placed it on Gabriel's forehead. Then there was only darkness.

(B-D)

Darkness had fallen. As soon as he regained his awareness, he knew something had gone horribly wrong. The first thing he noticed was that he was on the floor. Last thing he remembered was his wife and son putting a Cataclysm to his face. He shook his head and gathered his surroundings. He was still in his sanctum, alone. That was good. He also still had his Miraculous. Even better. He got to his feet again for the first time and tried to reconnect with his Akuma. He connected this time, but only just in time to watch as it was purified and sent home. He had no words this time. No speech on how he would get them next time. He remembered clearly everything up to the point where he attacked the Lucky Charm directly while controlling the fear Akuma. As far as he could figure, he must've gotten some serious feedback from that attack, and caused him to experience a lower form of the Akuma's power. And yes, he remembered his experience vividly. He couldn't remember any details about Ladybug's face as she had covered it, but Chat Noir as Adrien, that stuck to him. He knew it couldn't be, though, as they were both practically side-by-side when he had Akumatized his son's bodyguard and Chat had ordered Adrien to hide. Still, there was something off to the point where he couldn't stop thinking about it again. He had a lot to think about after that experience with the fear feedback he had survived. He released his transformation and made his way to the elevator, his kwami, Nooroo, floating silently in the room. He didn't even have it in him to look at the creature. Once in his office he asked Nathalie to cancel his appointments for the rest of the day and tomorrow. He was forced to finally admit that it was time to ponder his life's choices.

"If you really wanted our family to be whole again, you didn't need magic to do it. You only needed to love me as a person," he heard his dream son in his head. He paged Nathalie again and had her clear Adrien's schedule for the week except for Saturday, when he could invite his friend over to his room for a few hours. It would be a start. With business with the outside world complete, he went to his room.

It would be a long while before the next Akuma would show up in Paris.

(B-D)

To be continued…

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed my first fanfic in this fandom and a rare one-shot. My kids wanted me to write something for MLB after my last story, and this was one of the ideas that came to mind. As a father, I can understand and even kinda relate to what Gabriel is doing (if that's what his actual goal is). I'm not sure if this was done before, but this is my basic take on it. Seriously, though, I can't believe they haven't thought of attacking that Lucky Charm before it becomes a thing. Anyway, R&R, and I may have another story coming for MLB if time allows.

A/N2: I've made a few minor edits to this chapter to accommodate the rest of the story. From this point, the story will diverge into two paths. The rest will be explained in future notes.


	2. Dark Wings: When All is Laid Bare

Chapter 2 – Dark Wings: When All is Laid Bare

At first the silence was slightly worrisome. After a few days, the silence became more and more overwhelming. Four days. It had been four days since the last Akuma. The heroic duo, despite being able to catch up on their work and other projects, not to mention finally catching up on their sleep, began to worry. He rarely waited this long between attacks. Surely he must be planning something big, even bigger then the battle of Hero's day. They even considered to patrol during lunch, but put that idea to the side for the moment. Chat Noir decided to purchase a pair of burner phones so they could contact each other if they found anything. It didn't matter. There was nothing to find. At the end of the week the heroes felt that perhaps Hawkmoth may not attack. They began to think that maybe he had somehow been demoralized from the last Akuma. Even Master Fu couldn't predict what all could've happened with an Akuma directly controlled by the Moth almost destroying the Ladybug's Lucky Charm while the Cat's Cataclysm tried to block said attack. There were just too many variables going on to narrow down to a few theories. Apparently the last time anything close to that had happened was during the time of the War of the Three Kingdoms in China.

The private lives of the heroes had improved greatly by the end of the week. At first they suffered from mental exhaustion from worrying about when the next attack would come, but as time went on, the more relaxed they became. Marinette was able to get most of her projects done for her friends, even something for Adrien. Speaking of whom, Adrien was still busy, but in the most unexpected way. His father had suddenly removed himself from everything, even his work, for a week. Even his own schedule was cancelled for that week and he was able to have a get together with his closest friends with his father's blessing. At first Adrien was ecstatic, but as the days went on he began to be concerned for his father. Not even Natalie knew what was going on with him. The following Monday his father reemerged from his solitude and, for the first time in memory, set all of his design teams to come up with their own projects and designs for the next season's fashion line. The next day Adrien came across something that he hadn't seen since his childhood. His father had joined him for breakfast! Once Adrien was able to recover his jaw from the floor, they shared a meal and light conversation. His father told him that he would be taking a more active role in Adrien's life. The boy pushed down a wave of anxiety as he ate. His father was already in charge of every aspect of his life. He didn't want to think of how much more he could control him.

"I'm glad that you're able to join me for breakfast, father," said Adrien as they contained to eat. Natalie, not used to Gabriel being there, took a spot on the side between the two Agrestes. "But I have to ask why?"

Gabriel paused his eating as he spoke. "It had come to my attention that I needed a few days to myself for reflection, son." He motioned for more food to be brought out. He waited until the cooking staff had left before taking his next bite. Adrien followed suit, surprised that his father was allowing him eat so much. After a few more bites he continued. "I've been working on a personal project over the past few years. At first I made great headway into it, however, recently every time I seem to make some progress, a setback occurs and I'm back to square one. This project is more important to me than anything else, and after this latest setback, I've had to rethink my strategy and make some difficult decisions." He paused for a moment, closing his eyes. He really didn't want to bring his son into this, as he knew that it would kill him for doing so, but after his experience last week, he saw no other way to achieve his goal. He turned to Natalie. "Natalie, what are our schedules for this evening?"

She checked her tablet for a moment. "Adrien has fencing and piano lessons this afternoon and evening. You, sir, have several important calls and meetings to be in throughout the day and into late evening."

Gabriel paused in his eating for a moment. "Thank you, Natalie. Please free up our time after dinner, tonight. Adrien and I will be spending some quality time together." Adrien's eyes almost popped out as he heard this. Natalie paused before she began to change their schedules. Gabriel resumed eating. "Son, I believe that it's time for you to be involved in this project of mine. This is a personal thing, so there will be no details until tonight. Is that understood?"

Adrien couldn't agree fast enough.

(B-D)

What a day it had been at school. Even the most oblivious of students couldn't help but notice how good of a mood Adrien was in throughout the day. Chloe stated that she hadn't seen him so happy since his mom was around. After he was able to tell his story, his friends were so happy for him, even earning him a hug from Marinette, further increasing his good mood. By the time he got home he had the song _Walking on Sunshine_ on repeat in his head. As dinner approached that evening, Adrien was joined once again by his father for dinner. He couldn't even remember the last time he shared more than one meal with his father in a single day outside of conventions and business trips. There wasn't much conversation during the meal, but Adrien didn't mind. He was just happy that he was going to be working on a personal project with his father. As they finished, Gabriel motioned for his son to follow as they silently made their way to his office. Once there, Adrien stood to the side as Gabriel stood before the portrait of Emile, Gabriel's wife and Adrien's mother. Gabriel sighed after a moment, slightly turning toward his son. He looked over his son with gentle eyes before closing them again. It was clear that Gabriel was not at all comfortable with what he planned to do. Finally, he spoke.

"Son, this is a personal project that I've told no one else about. This is to remain a secret to the outside world. Do you understand?" Adrien nodded in agreement. "You should also know that I'm putting an enormous amount of trust in you by even mentioning this." Gabriel held a deep breath before continuing. "There is also a chance that your view of me will change drastically after learning of this. As I said, I'm putting a lot of trust in you. All I ask is that you try to trust me as well."

Adrien stepped back in shock. What could his father possibly be a part of that would make him not trust him? The boy shook his head and took a breath to center himself.

"Father, I can't think of anything that can shake my trust in you."

Gabriel shook his head dubiously with a tight smile. "We shall see in a moment." Adrien blinked before he registered his father directing him to a spot on the floor before the portrait. After pressing a few hidden buttons in the painting, Adrien was forced to catch his balance as the floor suddenly lowered the two down what felt like several floors. Soon they found themselves in a large, dimly lit room the size of a large warehouse. As the elevator finally settled and Gabriel stepped out he saw a pillar of light come down at the end of a long, metal walkway revealing a large cylinder. Adrien couldn't make out any details of it and was about to look around when his attention was summoned by his father as he began to speak.

"I have kept this place a secret for quite some time, but if my suspicions are correct, then I believe that you are now mature enough to handle these new revelations. I need you to focus on what I'm telling you, as what you will learn tonight will change your outlook on a great many things. The first thing I need to do is apologize for lying to you for the past couple of years. Your mother did technically disappear, but it was no mystery." Adrien stopped where he was, stunned. Gabriel saw this and, now standing in front of the large white tube, stepped to the side to reveal the glass cover. "As you can see, your mother is here, and she is still alive."

(B-D)

Adrien sat on his bed, doing everything in his power to regain what scraps of composure he had left. Plagg hovered near him, silent as he himself had to digest what they had learned. The boy couldn't even give a thought on how long he had been crying, nor had he given consideration to the pain of his lungs from the heaving sobs that racked through his body every few minutes. These paled, however, to the pain that weighed like lead in his heart.

"It's gonna to be okay, kid," said Plagg. "I don't know how, but it's gonna be okay, somehow."

"My father…" Adrien rasped, "he…he's a monster."

"You know, I wish I could argue against that, but I got nothin'."

Any reply was stopped short as another heave of his chest overtook his body again as he let himself fall sideways onto his bed.

"How could we not se…see this before?"

"Magic works in mysterious ways, kid. If I even had a clue to what was going on here, I would've sensed it ages ago."

Adrien laid on his bed for a few more minutes before getting back up and stalking toward the windows across the room. He glanced back a Plagg, who had just eaten some cheese, and nodded to the kwami. Plagg floated to him and nodded back.

"Plagg," whispered Adrien, subdued and depressed, "claws out."

(B-D)

It had been the best day of his life, and mere hours ago he couldn't think of anything that could've shaken his trust in his father. That was the case until an hour ago when he learned not one but two things that didn't merely shake him to his core, but almost outright destroyed any faith he had in humanity. Despite being out leaping from roof to roof that would usually give him a feeling of freedom, now only gave him the illusion of escape. He couldn't stop tonight's events from replaying in his head as he made his way to the top of the most familiar tower in town. He sat atop the tall structure, tears still falling from his face. Granted, they had slowed considerably since he fled his room, but the one-two punch to his heart still felt as fresh as it had an hour ago. Again, the scene played itself out as he relived the most horrible moment of his life.

(B-D)

Adrien nearly collapsed from the bombshell that lay before him. His mother had been missing for two years, and she was under his house the whole time. For a moment he wondered how in the world his father could've had all this machinery and stuff installed with no one being the wiser as to what would be down here, but he put that out of his mind as he struggled to come to terms that this was his father's "personal project."

"Why?" exclaimed Adrien, taking a step forward as he began to understand what was going on. "Why is mom down here? What happened to her?"

"A few years ago Emilie and I travelled throughout Tibet for a vacation when we came across the most incredible story." Gabriel glanced back to his son, eyebrow arched. "Powerful artifacts with the ability to grant powers to the wearer." He noticed his son swallow heavily. Suspicion 80% confirmed. "To make a long story short, we were able to find two of these artifacts and a book detailing the history of these artifacts. I believe that you are familiar with the book?"

"That book? Wait, now that I think about it, I don't remember any of your designs looking like the heroes from that book."

"Very good, son. Believe it or not I'm proud that you were able to discern that. At first we had no idea how to use these artifacts nor could we read the book. After we came home from Tibet we were able to get them to work, and much to our surprise we discovered that not only were they much more then jewelry, but that they were called Miraculous."

Adrien could barely stand. Never in his wildest nightmares could have come up with this kind of scenario. Many people in Paris knew what a Miraculous were at this point, but his father had learned about it even before he had received Plagg and his ring.

Gabriel continued. "Emilie quickly became friends with her kwami, Duusu, but there was a problem. Unknown to us or the kwami her Miraculous was damaged. By the time either of them noticed, Emily was already near death. When she fainted for the last time, I had her put into suspended animation until I could figure out how to bring her back to us. I spent over two years trying to figure out that book, but I've made too little progress. I did find a possible cure for her, however, and it involved finding two long treasures that have been lost to legend." Gabriel glanced toward his son. "I believe you know where this is going." The negative shaking of his son's head was expected. "If I gather these two items, their combined power will grant the wielder a wish." Gabriel stared Adrien in the eye. "I intend to wish for your mother's recovery from whatever it is that nearly killed her. After that our family will be whole once again. We can finally be happy." There was no turning back, now. He had just one card left to play, then his son would determine his next move. He closed his eyes for a moment, praying a short prayer that he wouldn't have to go with plan "B". The man opened his eyes and placed a hand on his son's shoulder, his pain obvious on his face as he choked out his words. "All I need, son, is a pair of earrings…and your ring."

Adrien lurched away from his father, instinctively clutching his ring with his other hand. The fear was clear in his eyes as his body trembled. Suspicion 100% confirmed. He watched as his son retreated from the sanctum and hung his head as his son looked back one last time before the elevator took him away.

(B-D)

The familiar circular window opened before him, the flutter of a mass of unearthly white wings surrounding him. As the moonlight revealed more of the figure standing among the fluttering, one would be able to see a man overcome with grief with a floating purple creature alongside him looking on with large sad eyes.

"Are you sure that this is what you want, master?"

"Of course it isn't, Nooroo," he nearly snapped before calming himself, "but this was the only way. I want him to join me willingly, and all things considered he's taking this far better than I thought he would. I'm just glad that he didn't transform on the spot and Cataclysm me in the face this time." Nooroo raised an eyebrow. "I will give him some time to think things over, but soon I will have my answer one way or another. You know the plan. Can we do as I want?"

Nooroo closed his eyes in sorrow as he whispered his answer. "Yes, master."

Gabriel closed his eyes once more, fighting the flood of grief trying to overwhelm him, but he stood strong. He had to be, not just for himself, but for his wife and son as well.

"Nooroo, Dark Wings, RISE!"

He felt the tingle of magic flow over him, and with that the additional fortitude to effectively counter the grief overload he had been fighting. Now fully prepared, he held out his hand and willed an Akuma butterfly to land on his hand. He paused his right hand as it came up to the Akuma, his behavior to pour evil energy into them nearly wrecking his plans before it could start. Pulling his hand back, he let loose the white Akuma toward the window.

"Go my Akuma, and enable me to speak with my son."

(B-D)

A/N: So after the massive cliffhanger that I left in the previous chapter, and my Wordgirl story before this, my muse did something it hadn't done in years. It came back. This should've been a one-shot, but now I've finished it. Twice. You'll understand as the story goes on. Just know that this has become an experimental writing exercise, but worry not. I'll release the chapters as I finish the edits. I hope you enjoy the continuation of this story.


	3. Dark Wings: Heart to Heart

Chp 3 – Dark Wings: Heart to Heart

He had finally gotten himself back under control, or at least as well as he could at the moment. He had gone for another run to a secluded park able a mile from his home. After checking his surroundings, he decided to catch his breath on a branch in a nearby tree, lest any random fans happen upon him. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with them at the moment. Although he wasn't as frazzled as he was over two hours ago, he was still very much affected by what his father had told him tonight. If only he could talk to someone about this, but he couldn't. Not without compromising his identity. There was also the issue of that person's safety. If his father found out that he told someone, they'd be next on his Akumatization hit list, and that was not something he was willing to take a chance on.

He glanced through his hair and leaves to look up to the sky. "Well, at least I'm calmer than before." His ears perked up, causing him to look frantically around him. "Where? I could've sworn I heard someone say 'good.'"

"You did." It was just a whisper, but it was more than enough for his enhanced hearing to pinpoint where it came from. The quiet sound of flapping wings triggered his instincts, literally having him jump to the roof in alarm. The white butterfly fluttered up to meet him near the edge of the roof, and made no move or attempt to get any closer to the catboy. "I'm only here to talk, son." Chat stood there for a moment, staff at the ready in a defensive stance. "Son, if I wanted to Akumatize you, I wouldn't have alerted you to my Akuma's presence. I simply want to talk."

Chat stood ready for another moment, but as he saw that the Akuma not only stayed in place, but was also white, meaning that it was already pure, he relaxed his stance, leaning on his baton. He still remained on guard, however. Even if it was his father, this was still Hawkmoth.

"Alright, you found me. What do you want?"

"Hmm, I see the mask gives you confidence. You should tap that outside of the mask as well."

"You don't exactly make that easy, right Hawkmoth?"

"Heh, I see. Call me what you prefer, if it'll make things easier for you, Adrien."

"Um, no. Right here, right now, I'm Chat Noir, protector of Paris."

"Very well, son."

Chat cringed. "OK, I walked into that one. What do you want?"

"I've already told you. I want you to help me revive your mother."

Chat's smirk vanished. "Is that why you never leave the house? Why you're always so busy that even your own son has to schedule an appointment days in advance for a five minute chat?"

A sigh was heard through the white butterfly. "Son, I know I'm not a good father to you. When your mother fell ill I was devastated. She was my emotional anchor. As you may have noticed, emotional support is not one of my specialties."

Chat had a good laugh at that. "I can't believe it! You DO have an actual sense of humor."

He could almost feel the smirk emoting through the butterfly. "Did you really think that your love for puns came from your mother?"

"…"

"That's what I thought."

"OK, this is enlightening and all," recovered Chat, "but that still doesn't excuse you for what you've been doing all this time."

"I will not excuse what I have done, but at least now you understand my motivation. I've laid out my hand to you, son. I've bared all of my secrets. I know you were almost as devastated as I when your mother fell ill to her miraculous. Everything I've done these past two years, I've done to restore our family."

Chat paused for a moment, deep in thought. He returned his baton to his back and sat down on the edge of the rooftop. The white Akuma then settled itself next to him. Chat glanced at the glowing butterfly. His father really was making an honest effort to make his case to him. The least he could do, now that he's cleared his head a bit, was to hear him out. Yes, he is an emotional terrorist to the entire city, but he was also his father. A father that practically ignored him and restricted any free time he had. Who had exercised complete control over his whole life in every noticeable regard. No, he won't let his emotions run wild. This was his father, but he was still an emotional terrorist that had taken advantage of babies and children.

"So," Chat sighed, "let's say we do this. Then what? What would we tell mom?"

Chat could almost hear the pained expression on his father's face through the Akuma.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it. What matters is that we have a chance to bring her back."

"Look, I understand where you're coming from. I really do. When mom disappeared, I felt like I lost both parents that day. I've done everything I could to get some acknowledgement from you, to show you that yes, mom is gone and I know you're grieved, but I'm still here. Just when I'm about to lose hope, you throw me a bone, making me think that you still love me. I was over the moon when you asked me onto this 'project' this morning. I couldn't think of a single thing that could've shaken my trust in you. Well, guess what? I was wrong beyond anything. I mean, this is our first heart-to-heart, and we needed ancient magical creatures of ridiculous power to make it happen. Yeah, I'm acting calm, but I'm still a mess thanks to you. I can't imagine how mom would deal with this when we tell her. Yes, I did say when, not if. After all I've done protecting Paris from you, it would be a betrayal to everything I've done and my partnership with Ladybug to not tell her what went into reviving her. She would need to know."

There was a good minute of silence before Chat got his response.

"Son, you speak well to your point, but I want you to answer me this. What do you want most out of this?"

This time it was Chat who was silent. Sure, what he said before was true and what he believed, but then he got hit by something he never thought would happen. His father asked him what he wanted. He tried, he really did, but this was the first time his father had ever asked him what he wanted. His head bowed, his emotion overriding logic, he couldn't stop his answer.

"I want my mom."

"So do I."

Another moment of silence passed.

"What do we need to do, father?"

Back in his lair, Hawkmoth genuinely smiled in relief. His son called him father again. "We need the…earrings. Would she give them up willingly?"

"Ladybug is the most selfless, kind, beautiful, and giving person I know. She's also very dedicated to her duty to protecting the city. Unless you're willing to surrender everything Miraculous related in exchange, she won't even think to go through with it."

"Are you sure, son?"

"I'm paw-sitive."

"Heh, nice."

"I never thought I'd hear that from you, father," Chat smiled.

"Like you, I find it easier to express emotion while transformed. Anyway, there will be many more opportunities for that when your mother returns to us. I ne…we need those earrings. Surrender is a price I am more than willing to pay to have Emilie back."

Chat thought on this for a moment. There really was only one way to know for sure.

"I'm going to have to talk to her."

"What?"

"I'm going to have to talk to Ladybug, father. This isn't the kind of conversation to have over the phone."

"I don't like it, but it does make sense."

"I don't like it, either, but it's the only way. We just need to catch her in a good…"

He barely heard that familiar whizz before hearing "CHAT! LOOK OUT!" He managed to use his baton to block the yo-yo, much to her shock as she was naturally aiming for the Akuma settled next to him. She reeled in her yo-yo, nearly hitting herself in her completely shocked face. "Chat? Wha…?"

"Um, hello, M'Lady?" Chat meekly uttered as he stood, knowing full well what was going to happen next. "Um, I can explain?"

Ladybug's entire demeanor switched like a light, changing from anxious desperation to battle mode. She glanced at the Akuma on the edge of the roof, showing much in the ways of common sense by not moving from it's spot. "This had better be good, Chat."

"OK, first off, notice that it's not purple but white. He wasn't going to Akumatize me."

She looked again, just now registering the color of the glowing butterfly. "OK, so either you found a way to purify it on your own, or there's something else going on."

"We…" Chat's hand went behind his head. "We were talking."

"To who, Hawkmoth?"

"…yes…" he squeaked, sheepishly. Ladybug's jaw dropped, only for her to recover quickly. It was hard not to notice her yo-yo as it was now spinning. Chat sighed as he attached his baton to his back and raised his hands in a submissive gesture. "Please let me explain, M'Lady. Please, trust me on this."

She hesitated for a moment before reeling in her yo-yo again, but she remained where she stood.

"I do trust you, Chat. It's him I don't trust."

"Very well," voiced the butterfly as it flew into the night sky. "I shall withdraw for now. Just so you know, I will not launch any more attacks until your decision is made."

"Decision?"

"All part of the explanation, M'Lady."

"Farewell, for now," voiced the Akuma as it made its way back home.

The heroes watched it fly into the distance until they could no longer see it's glow. Only then did Ladybug turn her full attention to her partner.

"WHAT THE HECK, CHAT!" she yelled, arms waving in the air.

"It's been a rough night, and it all ended up with us talking to each other."

"I honestly can't imagine a situation where that has even a remote possibility of happening, and I'm the creative one, here!"

"I know him in my civilian life."

That got her silent. "Okay, wow." She was dumbfounded. "Do you know who he is?"

He cringed lightly as he turned his back to her, his head bowed. "Yeah."

He said is so quietly she had almost missed it. She was in a state of near shock. She then walked up and embraced her partner from behind.

"Oh, kitty," she sighed, finally lowering her guard. "I know this can't be easy for you."

"It's not," said Chat. "I never would've thought that he was Hawkmoth, you know? I mean, he's never been close, but we're family."

"Family?"

"Yeah. He finally reached out to me this morning and I couldn't have been happier. I couldn't imagine anything that could've ruined my trust in him. You can see how wrong I was."

"I'm so sorry, kitty."

"Yeah, it was a shock, but that wasn't the only thing. Remember what I told you about my mom?"

"That was a long time ago," she pondered, loosening her embrace. "You never found out any details about her disappearance…no, don't tell me…"

"Yeah" he said, excitement returning to his voice. "Not only do I now know what happened to her, but I saw her! She was in some kind of suspended animation or something. She hasn't aged a day."

"I can't believe it," she said, finally releasing her partner.

"I know!" he exclaimed, turning to face his partner. "If I hadn't seen it for myself I would've laughed in their face. But you see, that's what we were talking about. Oh, and we were right about the wish, too. It's just that he wants to wish my mom back to health."

"And he needs our Miraculous to do it?"

"Can you understand why I sat down to listen to him? I saw her with my own eyes, M'Lady. I finally understand the why of what he's doing. I don't agree with the methods, but I now understand why."

"But we can't just give up our Miraculous, Chat. There has to be another way."

"Please forgive my impatience, Ladybug, but this is my long-lost mother we're talking about. He also agreed to surrender everything he has related to the Miraculous when she's back, including that book. I'm having a hard time finding the problem, here."

"The problem is that there's a cost to the wish, and we have no idea what that cost will be. Not just that, but this may also be a trap. I'm sorry, but that's not a chance I'm willing to take." She paused when she saw her partner's face. "I can't take the chance that I might lose you."

Chat lowered his head. "Please, don't do this."

"Oh, Chat," cried Ladybug as she hugged her partner. "I'm so sorry."

They stayed like this for a moment, one trying to console her partner, the other falling more and more into despair. His limp arms finally came up to hug her back, although his shoulders were still slouched from the pain in his heart.

"Yes, father."

"Wha…?" Ladybug suddenly found herself in Chat's arms as he jumped down to the alley below. She was frozen in both shock of the action as well as the pain in the strange phase he muttered before he picked her up. Her feet had barely touched the ground when she felt a tug on her ears. She stepped back as she felt the magic flee from her body, the pink glow retreating from her. "Chat? Why?"

"I'm sorry, M'Lady," said Chat, his eyes closed. "I promise that I'll give these back, and the other Miraculous as well. Cat's honor."

"How could you?" screamed the now Marinette, pounding Chat on the chest with all her might. He flinched but did not budge. "Why?"

"I'm sorry, M'Lady," he apologized, tears streaming from his closed eyes. "I truly am, but wouldn't you do what you could to get your mother back?"

"Chat…"

He turned his back to her. "I kept my eyes closed so neither of us would know your identity. I'll meet you back here two days from now to return your earrings, as well as everything father has regarding the Miraculous. I pray that you can forgive me someday, M'Lady."

"Chat," Marinette cried out as he leapt away. "Please!" She fell to her knees hugging herself as he disappeared along the rooftops. She remained for a few minutes in shock and disbelief before she remembered what he said earlier. "Wait, so Hawkmoth is Chat's father? And he never told me who he was unless he also told me who he is." As if the betrayal wasn't bad enough, now regret had come upon her in full force. She was the one to enforce the secret identity thing since the beginning, and now it comes back to bite her at the worst possible moment. This time she cried in silence, knowing that no one would be by at this late hour. The only solace that she had was that Hawkmoth had promised that he wouldn't Akumatize anyone, and that was no solace at all.

(B-D)


	4. Dark Wings: At What Cost

Chp 4 – Dark Wings: At What Cost

Three days had passed since she last saw her partner. It also happened to be three days since she last saw her crush, Adrien. Alya and Nino had no idea where he was, and of course the Agreste staff was less than helpful. It was like he fell off the face of the Earth or something. She had told Master Fu what had happened on that fateful night, but there was nothing they could do. Now armed with four Miraculous, it would've been suicide to try to attack with the other, less powerful jewels. Marinette did notice a sadness in the Master's eyes. He did ask if she wanted to know who her partner was, but she refused. Yes, it made sense, but she was still recovering from his betrayal since he didn't return when he had promised. She certainly didn't want to hate on him outside the mask, too. She knew that revenge never ended well. The one thing that did work out for her was that Hawkmoth seemed to be honoring his promise not to send out any more Akumas. She counted herself extremely lucky on that front.

So when she received a summons to the Agreste mansion she was very much caught off guard. Maybe they had found something about Adrien? But then, why her? The gate opened for her after she rang the bell and approached the massive front door. She was channeling her inner Ladybug as the door opened to see Adrien's bodyguard blocking her path. They stared at each other for a moment before he rested a hand softly on her shoulder. She did not miss the pained look in his eyes as he stepped to the side to let her in. Natalie was standing in the foyer to greet her, but she could tell that the assistant was trying not to be emotional, herself. That wasn't good.

"I'm glad you could make it," Natalie greeted.

"Of course," she said, keeping her voice as steady as she could. "Would this be about Adrien?"

"Yes," the older woman responded, barely holding back a choke and no longer maintaining eye contact. "Mr. Agreste will see you, now."

"M-Mr…Agreste?"

"Yes, please follow me."

Marinette was fending off a full-on panic attack. Her idol, her inspiration wanted to see her, about her crush. And then there was the fact the both Natalie and Gorilla seemed to be mourning, or at least depressed. Her paranoia began to kick in, but before she could get too far into it, she was in his office. She remembered this room, being in here as Ladybug a few times. It was a wreck last time, but now she could actually take in her surroundings now that she wasn't 'on the clock.' Again, the portrait of Mrs. Agreste stood out among the other art present in the room. Gabriel stood before the portrait, still and silent.

"Mr. Agreste, Ms. Dupain-Chang is here."

Gabriel sighed. "Thank you, Natalie. Please leave us."

"Yes sir."

Natalie backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. Marinette stood there, wringing her hands in nervousness, waiting for the man to acknowledge her. After a few minutes of agonizing silence, she managed the courage to clear her throat. Gabriel glanced back for a moment, assessing her. She immediately stood ramrod straight at attention, eyes on him. He paused for a moment, then the silence was broken.

"You asked to see me, Mr. Agreste?"

He turned to face her.

"Yes, Ms. Dupain-Chang. May I call you Marinette?"

"Yes, or course," she shook her head enthusiastically.

"Very well." He gestured to a pair of lush easy chairs in the corner. "Please, have a seat."

Marinette sat down, followed by Gabriel. She could tell that the man wasn't himself. He was always the picture of stoicism and poise, but now his shoulders were slumped and his face, now that she had a good look at it, was haggard and worn. Paranoia once again tried to take hold, but his voice halted it for the moment.

"We should get started," he said, regaining some professionalism. "I've called you here to fulfill our terms of agreement, as well as to inform you as to what happened in the aftermath."

Marinette gave him a look of confusion. "What terms? I don't know what you're talking about, sir."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, then closed his eyes, his body sloughing for a moment. "I see. Adrien never told you, did he."

There goes that paranoia again. "Tell me what?"

He sighed. "His eyes may have been closed, but I could still see you, Ladybug."

Well, at least it can't be called paranoia if it's real.

"What?"

"Four nights ago, I was speaking with Chat Noir through my Akuma, discussing several things that had transpired earlier that day. I did not want to Akumatize my son, which is why I spoke to him with an uncorrupted Akuma, but I had a corrupted one nearby just in case."

"Wait, you're…?"

"Yes. I was Hawkmoth."

"…was?"

"Yes, past tense."

"And Chat called Hawkmoth 'father,' so…" her eyes budged.

"So, he was right. You really didn't know each other's identities. I'm truly sorry."

"What did you do to Chat?" she growled, in part due to the situation she found herself in, and in massive part due to who her partner was. No time to freak out, she had to focus. "What did you do to Adrien?"

"I will get to that. Please, this is difficult for me, too. Again, I'm sorry that you had to learn this from me, of all people." He glanced to his wife's portrait again. "I finally got my wish. I knew there was a cost, but I never considered the true ramifications of it. I was…no, I am a fool."

Marinette sat on the edge of her seat. Before her was the first and last person she had expected to be the villain who had caused her and her city so much pain and suffering over the last two years. She wanted to ask some questions, but even she could tell that the man was barely getting through this conversation himself. She feared the worst.

"Before I forget, I've instructed Natalie to give you a package on your way out. In it contains all of the items and information I have related to the Miraculous, as per my agreement with your partner. That includes the book, the Butterfly, and the Peacock miraculous."

Her eyes went wide again. He was following through with what Chat had told her. It was over, but what was the cost? Gabriel pulled out a small jewelry box and handed to her

"And also, as agreed, I return these to you."

She took the box with only a slight hesitation before opening it. As she had hoped, there were her ladybug earrings. What shocked her, however, was that Chat's right was with them. She quickly put on her earrings, making sure that the ring was safe in her ever-present purse. After a moment she realized that Tikki had yet to appear.

"I believe that the kwami are in some sort of hibernation," theorized Gabriel as the girl collapsed on her chair. "Of course, they both strongly warned me about what would happen if I made my wish, but I thought I knew better. I haven't seen them since."

Marinette sat in thought for a few moments until she stood up again and approached Gabriel.

"Where is my partner?" she demanded with as much calm as she could muster.

"This way," he said as he rose from his seat. He guided her to a certain spot on the floor. "I had this designed for two people at most, but it is still a tight fit." She nodded, not really understanding what he meant. When he pushed several buttons on the portrait and stood close to her, she was about to protest when the floor lowered itself beneath them. After an uncomfortable minute standing shoulder to shoulder with her idol and nemesis, light finally shone through as they arrived in a large underground sanctum of some sort. The space was huge, and she briefly wondered how even a billionaire such as Gabriel could've had this built without anyone noticing. Then her attention was drawn to a quiet sound. Why did it sound like weeping?

"As you know," Gabriel began as he led Marinette over the metal bridge, "Adrien's mother, Emilie had gone missing over three years ago. What I hid from everyone was that she was in what I believed was a magic-based coma. I had her brought here while I researched a way to cure her. That's how I learned of your Miraculous." She noticed that the weeping sound was getting louder as they continued. "I was able to make my wish to bring my wife back…"

Marinette stopped as she saw a young woman with blonde hair on her knees, crying and wailing before a glass tube. Inside the tube was her friend and partner, seeming to be asleep.

"My wife came back," said Gabriel, voice finally cracking as emotion finally overwhelmed him, "but at the cost of my own son."

Marinette dropped to her knees, eyes wide as her greatest fears were confirmed. That's why he never returned that night as he promised. That's why she hadn't seen her crush for days. She was hoping that he was on some extended photoshoot or something, but no. Her heart disintegrated at the sight. Slowly she crawled to the tube containing her love as she joined the other woman in her mourning.

Gabriel watched in sorrow. The woman, his wife, was shocked when she awoke. She understood why he had done what he did once he explained himself. It wasn't until they noticed that their son was strangely quiet when they realized that he had collapsed. Gabriel experienced intense flashbacks as he remembered in torturous detail how similar this was to when his wife fell into her coma. They were barely able to stay composed until after they got their son into the tube when she turned on her husband, demanding to know what happened to their son. It was then that he realized what the cost of his wish truly was. She had been mourning their son ever since. She had not even eaten since before she fell into the coma, but she had no appetite. He knew what was going on. The one time he had Gorilla try to bring her upstairs for some food she reacted…well, let's just say he had forgotten how well she could defend herself. He knew that she had lost her will to live. Without their son, she had no reason to live. And now it seems that the cost now continues through the girl.

It was clear to him that his son was more than simply her partner in crime fighting. A friend would not be so devastated as this. No, she was truly in love with him. Of that there was no doubt. His wife and this girl both mourned, wept, and cried in anguish at the foot of their beloved. After the first hour he managed to convince Marinette to return to Miraculous package to the Guardian, provoking her sense of duty to get her going. Of course, he couldn't refuse her request to return. He was surprised when she returned with an older man in an atrocious Hawaiian-style shirt. This man, "Uncle Fu," turned out to be the level head they needed to get Emilie out of the Sanctum and into a bed for treatment. They had also sought out treatment for Adrien. Uncle Fu (Gabriel told him in private that he knew that he was the Guardian, and that he no longer cared) had said that there may have been a chance to save him if the wish had not been made, but now it was up to modern medicine to repair the damage. Unfortunately and predictably, modern medicine was ill-equipped to deal with the affliction that befell Adrien.

In the end, the news outlets were in a frenzy due to not only the return of Emilie Agreste, but also of the death of both her and her son, Adrien. They were buried in a family plot during a small, private funeral a few days later. Details were scarce, providing an atmosphere of wild speculation and theory, but Gabriel no longer cared. He had finally completed everything to ensure that his company would carry on without him, as he, too, had lost the will to live. As much as he wanted to end it all quickly, he no longer had the stomach to cause anyone more harm, whether directly or indirectly. He had sent anonymous apology packages to every one of his victims. He ensured that both Natalie and Gorilla would be able to enjoy a very well-deserved and well-funded retirement. And, in honor of his son, had set up full higher education scholarships for every one of Adrien's classmates, even Chloe.

His last public act was to go to a specific bakery to hand-deliver a letter to Marinette, who had been depressed since his wish. He again apologized to her and promised her that if she should decide to return to designing, that his letter of recommendation would be honored throughout the industry. He only told her parents of the trust fund he had created for her, as he knew she would refuse it in her current state of mind. He had essentially destroyed her adolescence. The absolute least he could do was to give her a hand up when she was ready to move on with her life.

When everything was said and done, Gabriel allowed himself to waste away at home to become a mere ghost of his former self, waiting to die. He didn't care what happened to him afterward, but as he finally drew his last breath, he was surprised that he was not alone. The bodyguard, who stood ever vigilant at his door. The assistant, who rarely ever left his side. The heroine who, while never quite recovering from her lose, still found it in her heart to visit him on his deathbed. The guardian, who accompanied the heroine in their time of need. It was more then he knew he deserved, but sometimes you never really know what you truly deserve until peace finally comes.

The End of the Dark Wings

Next chapter: Light Wings Rise

A/N: Yes, you read that right. There is a next chapter. I've never tried my hand at writing a story with multiple endings, and the first chapter gave me that opportunity to try. At first I thought to alternate between light and dark, but that even confused me, never mind anybody else trying to figure out what I'm doing, so I split it. After chapter 3 I just kept writing, letting the characters take me for a ride. Dark Wings turned out a lot darker than I expected, though. Anyway, let me know what you think in the comment section and stay tuned for the tale of the other choice.


	5. Light Wings: New Decisions

A/N: This is the other AU from chapter 1. This is chapter 2 of Gabriel's other choice.

Chapter 5 – Light Wings: New Decisions

At first the silence was slightly worrisome. After a few days, the silence became more and more overwhelming. Four days. It had been four days since the last Akuma. The heroic duo, despite being able to catch up on their work and other projects, not to mention finally catching up on their sleep, began to worry. He rarely waited this long between attacks. Surely, he must be planning something big, even bigger then the battle of Hero's day. They even considered to patrol during lunch, but put that idea to the side for the moment. Chat Noir decided to purchase a pair of burner phones so they could contact each other if they found anything. It didn't matter. There was nothing to find. At the end of the week the heroes felt that perhaps Hawkmoth may not attack. They began to think that maybe he had somehow been demoralized from the last Akuma. Even Master Fu couldn't predict what all could've happened with an Akuma directly controlled by the Moth almost destroying the Ladybug's Lucky Charm while the Cat's Cataclysm tried to block said attack. There were just too many variables going on to narrow down to a few theories. Apparently, the last time anything close to that had happened was during the time of the War of the Three Kingdoms in China.

The private lives of the heroes had improved greatly during this time. At first, they suffered from mental exhaustion from worrying about when the next attack would come, but as time went on, the more relaxed they became. Marinette was able to get most of her projects done for her friends, even something for Adrien. Speaking of whom, Adrien was still busy, but in the most unexpected way. His father had suddenly removed himself from everything, even his work, for a week. Even his own schedule was cancelled for that week and he was able to have a get together with his closest friends with his father's blessing. At first Adrien was ecstatic, but as the days went on he began to be concerned for his father. Not even Natalie knew what was going on with him. The following Thursday his father reemerged from his solitude and, for the first time in memory, set all of his design teams to come up with their own projects and designs for the next season's fashion line. The next morning Adrien came across something that he hadn't seen since his childhood. His father had joined him for breakfast! Once Adrien was able to recover his jaw from the floor, they shared a meal and light conversation. His father mentioned that he would be taking a more active role in Adrien's life. The boy pushed down a wave of anxiety as he ate. His father was already in charge of every aspect of his life. He didn't want to think of how much more he could control him.

"I'm glad that you're able to join me for breakfast, father," said Adrien as they contained to eat. Natalie, not used to Gabriel being there, took a spot between the two Agrestes. "But I have to ask why?"

Gabriel paused his eating as he spoke. "It had come to my attention that I needed a few days to myself for reflection, son." He motioned for more food to be brought out. He waited until the cooking staff had left before taking his first bite. Adrien followed suit, surprised that his father was allowing him eat so much. After a few bites he continued. "As I've mentioned, I've decided to take a more active role in your life. You will inform me of when your fencing tournaments are so that I can attend." Adrien's eyes went wide. "You will also inform me of any school events that occur that you deem important enough for me to attend. Please make sure that you give me enough advanced notice so that I can arrange my schedule accordingly."

"Father?"

"Yes, Adrien?"

"When you said 'a more active role'…?"

"I meant that I want to be there for you, son," said the man as he got up from his seat and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Adrien," he started as he closed his eyes. "I haven't been much of a father to you. I've neglected you. Even though I've exercised control over every aspect of your life, I just haven't been there for you in the way that you need."

Both Adrien's and Natalie's jaws dropped. They shot each other a quick look, both wondering if this was for real. Adrien placed his hand over his father's.

"I understand, father. I know you were busy with the company and all."

He felt his father's grip tighten slightly at that as his eyes shot open.

"I did that to forget my pain. What I've only recently come to realize is that while I hid my pain, I was causing you more pain. I no longer have the stomach to do that to you. As much as I want your mother to return, I have to remind myself that I have a son that still needs his parent."

Adrien wasn't crying. That was liquid joy, OK! The hug given by his father was just an added bonus. Seriously, he wasn't crying…much.

He released his son and turned to Natalie. "Natalie, what are our schedules for tomorrow evening?"

She shook herself from the moment and checked her tablet. "Adrien has Chinese and piano lessons tomorrow afternoon and evening. You, sir, have several important calls and meetings to be in throughout the day and into late evening."

Gabriel returned to his seat for a moment. "Thank you, Natalie. Please free up our time after dinner both tonight and tomorrow night. Adrien and I will be spending some quality time together." Adrien's eyes almost popped out as he heard this. Natalie paused before she began to change their schedules. Gabriel resumed eating. "Also clear up my schedule from this afternoon on. I have a personal project to work on. Depending on how that goes, then I will be spending a lot more time with my son. Would you like that, Adrien?"

Adrien couldn't agree fast enough.

(B-D)

What a day it had been at school. Even the most oblivious of students couldn't help but notice how good of a mood Adrien was in throughout the day. Chloe stated that she hadn't seen him so happy since his mom was around. After he was able to tell his story, his friends were so happy for him, even earning a hug from Marinette, further increasing his good mood. By the time school had ended he had the song _Walking on Sunshine_ on repeat in his head. That came to an abrupt end when he saw a white butterfly in his peripheral vision. He could just hear that record scratch in his head as he looked at the area where he thought he saw it. Sure enough, there it was. It was definitely an Akuma, but what made him pause was that not only was it just fluttering about, but it was white. Adrien scratched his head when he heard his nickname called from behind.

"Bro! Did you see that?"

"You mean that purified Akuma under the stairs?"

"Wait, there's one there, too?"

"Wait, what?"

Nino stood by his friend as they saw the Akuma the other had seen. Soon they heard other students murmuring about seeing other Akumas. They glanced at each other, knowing that this was going to be big. As they cautiously walked out of the entrance they found many of their classmates looking around in awe.

"This is so beautiful," said Rose.

"Yes," said Max. "I would agree if it didn't have a 100% chance of being absolutely terrifying."

"But they're all white Akumas," said Alya. "That means they can't Akumatize anyone, right?"

"I wish I knew," answered Marinette. "I haven't seen anything like this since the day Hawkmoth first announced himself to Paris."

"That might be it," said Adrien, causing the girl to eep at his sudden appearance. His hand on her shoulder wasn't helping much, either. "He might be looking for Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Adrien saw Marinette's whole demeanor change in an instant. That look of anxiety and shyness suddenly switched to a fierce and determined look. It looked familiar for some reason.

"We should all get home," she said in a voice that clearly demanded to be obeyed. "We don't know what Hawkmoth is going to do, but we'd all be safer if we all went home now."

A scoff was heard behind their group as they turned to the source.

"Forget about that," said Chloe. "I'm going to signal Ladybug to come and get me. It's obvious that she's going to need me for this."

And with that Chloe and Sabrina left the group. Marinette separated as well and headed home before Alya could catch her. As more of their group disburse, Adrien managed to get away and found a butterfly-free place to transform. Shortly after he was on the rooftops. He looked around and had to agree with his classmates. The sight was indeed beautiful and terrifying. White Akumas were fluttering all over Paris. They were spaced out enough that they weren't in people's way, but they were numerous enough at it was impossible to miss them. He heard flapping behind him, causing him to duck as five Akumas flew over his head. They paused for a moment before they changed direction not at Chat like he was expecting, but away from him. He glanced about and saw Ladybug a few rooftops away in a similar situation. She hadn't noticed him, yet, as she began to cautiously follow the glowing butterflies. He quickly made his way to intercept.

"Out catching butterflies, M'Lady?"

"I don't know what to think since they're already purified," replied Ladybug, ignoring Chat's flirting as always. "Any idea what's going on?"

"Nope. I was having the best day of my life when I first noticed this. I transformed as soon as I could."

"Same here. A few seemed to pass over me, then started to lead me somewhere. I just started following them when you showed up."

"Yeah, the same with me. I just happen to notice you before I went. Hey, I think that's my batch next to yours."

Sure enough, the batch of Akumas that had buzzed Chat had now joined the ones they were following. They glanced about and realized that all of the Akuma in the area were now headed toward the Eiffel Tower. They shared a look, once again on the same wavelength. They were going to be speaking with their nemesis once again.

It was only a few minutes' travel by rooftop before they reached their destination. There was a huge mass of Akumas waiting for them at the Eiffel Tower. The police had already evacuated the tower and set up a perimeter around the structure. The news vans were also on site, recording everything. The two heroes dropped down to the police line.

"What's the situation, Officer Roger?" asked Chat.

"The Akumas just suddenly appeared all across Paris before they all started to come here. From what we can tell, there's no super villain around, and no reports of seeing any purple butterflies, either."

"Thank you, sir," said Ladybug. "We'll take it from here."

"Good luck, you two!"

"Thanks," she replied. Then she turned to her partner as they made their way forward. "We're really gonna need it, this time."

"Then it's a good thing you're here, M'Lady. You're good luck personified."

Ladybug smiled at Chat before focusing on the mass of Akumas before them. As they had expected, the Akumas began to move around until they created a giant likeness of Hawkmoth's face.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir," boomed the floating head. "I'm glad that you received my invitation."

"What do you want, Hawkmoth?" demanded Ladybug, her and the cat's weapons drawn.

"It no longer matters," he answered, a definite tone of defeat obvious in his voice. The heroes lowered their weapons in response.

"What?" asked Chat.

The eyes of the floating head closed and bowed. "I have been after your Miraculous for almost two years, and you've defeated me countless times in the process. My last attempt has left me rethinking my life, and I find that I no longer have the stomach to cause any more harm."

Everyone present straightened up in surprise. The heroes shared another look, both confused by this new development.

"What do you mean?" Ladybug asked, suspicion obvious in her own voice.

"I have appeared here as I did before to make an announcement. I will no longer attempt to capture your Miraculous. As of today, I surrender."

Even the people on the outskirts of the police line could hear Chat's baton drop.

"You mean you're giving up?" asked Chat.

"Yes."

The heroes relaxed their stance and turned to each other.

"Think this is a trick?"

"I don't think so, M'Lady. He's never been one to just give up. And he really sounds like he's not into this, anymore.

"Would you mind if we took this conversation to a more private place?" asked the head of Hawkmoth. "Keeping this form in draining and I would like to discuss my terms of surrender."

"Will you be there personally?"

"Not yet, Ladybug. For now, I will speak with you through my Akuma. I shall recall the rest"

The heroes glanced at each other once again and nodded.

"Can you have one of your Akuma keep up with us?"

"Yes, just give me a minute."

The large head burst into a large flock of butterflies that then scattered in every direction, ensuring that no one could follow. One Akuma did remain, and it was white as the rest of them.

"I am ready," said a voice from the remaining Akuma.

"OK," said Chat as Ladybug updated the police on what had happened. "Let's go."

Chat extended his baton to reach the rooftops once again, Ladybug following after the butterfly that somehow managed to keep pace with the heroes. Several minutes of roof hopping later and they settled onto the top of a church. The roof was nice and hidden from any street-bound spectators, but open enough for the heroes to make a quick escape is necessary. The butterfly landed gently on the side of the bell tower as the two heroes situated themselves at good attack angles should the conversation go south.

"So, are you for real, Hawkmoth?" asked Chat.

"Yes. I would not go public with this if I weren't."

"So you don't want to lie, but Akumaziting babies is okay?"

"Neither of those times was on purpose!"

"Chat, don't taunt the badguy, this time," chided Ladybug, although the smug look on her face expressed what she really thought.

"Thank you," said the butterfly. "I know you have a life to get back to, so this is my offer. I will surrender my Miraculous, the Peacock, and everything I have that involved the Miraculous. All I ask is for you to listen to why I did this in the first place."

"Ooo! Storytime with Hawkmoth!" exclaimed Chat, sarcasm dripping with every word. "I can't wait!"

"And you will turn yourself in to the authorities afterward?" questioned Ladybug.

"That would do more harm than good, Ladybug. I will hand over my Miraculous to you myself, and when you see who I am, you will understand. I will not attack or ambush you. I will not Akumatize anyone else. I may be opportunistic, but have I ever lied to you?"

Both heroes thought they had an answer, but none came as they actually thought about it. Yes, he did bad things on many occasions, but with every interaction with their enemy, no matter how rare it was, Hawkmoth had not lied.

"In my world, my word is my reputation. That extends to this as well. I am no Lila Rossi."

Both heroes shivered at that. No need for either of them to want to think about that person.

"Alright," said Ladybug, "we'll listen to what you have to say, but turning yourself in will still be on the table."

"Understood, Ladybug. There will need to be some arrangements on my end if it comes to that."

"So, when do we do this?" asked Chat.

"When will be convenient for you. I know you are going to school, which is why I waited until today to do this, and I've disrupted your lives enough as it is."

That surprised them, Hawkmoth being considerate.

"Well, I do have some homework that needs to be done," said Ladybug, "but I can be done and ready by ten tonight."

"I'm free for then as well," said Chat.

"Very well. I'll have a butterfly waiting on the roof of the College Francoise Dupont. It's not far from me. It will lead you to me at another neutral location."

"Alright," agreed Ladybug. "We'll meet up with you around 10 tonight."

"Thank you, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Hopefully our meeting tonight will be as painless as this was."

"For once I agree with you," replied Chat.

"Until tonight," said the butterfly as it fluttered away. When they could no longer track the Akuma, they shared a look and traveled to another rooftop to talk.

"Did that really just happen, Bugaboo?" exclaimed Chat, excitement thick in his voice.

Ladybug gave a soft, airy laugh. "Yeah, I think it did. We just discussed terms of Hawkmoth's surrender to a glowing, talking white butterfly, right?"

He grasped his partner's shoulders. "Oh my God, I'm not dreaming!"

The hug that followed was tight and warm, emotional and worn. They had been fighting for Paris for a long time, now, and for all the stress, issues, trouble in their civilian life, and stress, it seemed that they finally managed to pull each other through.

They loosened their embrace, Chat noting with glee that his lady hadn't tried to break off the hug, yet.

"Chat, if this is real, that means we've won. We did it!"

"I know, Bugaboo. I couldn't have done this without you, though."

"Chat, you know I couldn't have gotten this far without you."

"But you're you, M'Lady. You're so brave and confident. I'm sure you could've beaten Hawkmoth by yourself eventually."

She shook her head, silencing Chat. "Chat, I need to confess something to you…"

"That you do have feelings for me?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

She playfully slapped his chest. "No, kitty. Remember our first Akuma?"

"Oh yeah, Stoneheart. Man, I can't believe we were such newbies back then."

"Well, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have even made it through that." Chat's shocked face made her giggle. "Seriously. I was thinking about that when Hawkmoth showed up, today. When he first demanded our Miraculous, I was scared. I'm not very confident in my civilian life, and definitely not brave, or I wasn't until I was Ladybug for a while. Back then, though, I was intimidated." She tightened her hug on Chat once again. "It was your words of encouragement that gave me the strength to respond to his demands. I never did thank you for that, so thank you, Chat, for always having my back."

Chat squeezed the love of his life as he made a mighty effort to hold back his tears. It wasn't often that his lady opened up to him, but it got him in the heart every time.

"Thank you, M'Lady," he whispered back. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to express myself and experience the freedom that comes with this job. In my life, I live in a strict household where my behavior is always in the spotlight. I can't joke around or even try to be myself. Yeah, I do go a bit overboard with the mask, but I can finally be myself. And the fact that you still tolerate me as myself makes it all worth it."

He didn't know how much tighter she could squeeze him, but luckily it was a short one.

"Silly kitty," she said into his chest. "You know you're intolerable."

"Meouch!" he said, putting her at arm's length. "M'lady wounds me. Only kiss can heal this wound!"

Ah, there's the pun and flirting. Time to go.

"Alright, down, kitty." She finally released the embrace. "We need to get back home so we can be ready for tonight. Remember what we talked about if he finally did surrender?"

"And you told me that I was dreaming."

"Well, I'm glad I was wrong, kitty."

"Are you sure that we want to involve Her in this?"

"She's trustworthy. Besides, it's not like I can invite you over to my place, anyway."

"Yet."

She turned and unhooked her yo-yo. She looked back and winked. "Maybe."

Chat stood stunned for a moment as Ladybug roof hopped out of sight.

"Wow," he sighed. "That's the most she's opened up to me since we met. Maybe we can finally get past this secret identity thing and I'll finally meet the girl behind the mask!"

(B-D)


	6. Light Wings: Meeting of Fate

Chapter 6 – Light Wings: Meeting of Fate

It was a quarter to ten when she was finally ready to go. Other than the expected visit from Chat and making a couple of deliveries, things were rather uneventful that evening. Of course, the news and Ladyblog was going crazy over Hawkmoth's surrender and everything that meant. Questions about what would happen to the heroes was also front and center, but she didn't want to dwell on that topic. She had to focus on what was coming in a few minutes. Tikki flew up to her line of sight, gaining her attention.

"Are you ready for tonight, Marinette?"

"I think so. You said that my backpack will disappear when I transform, right?"

"Yes. That won't be a problem."

"And I have plenty of cookies and your power-up food in there, just in case this is an ambush."

"He did sound serious about this, Marinette. I hope we don't need all of this."

"I hope not, either, Tikki. This is going to be a long night, regardless. At least it's Friday night so there's no school tomorrow."

"Rather considerate, don' t you think?"

"Yeah, like he's trying to be nice." She shook her head. "Come on, let's go. SPOTS ON!"

(B-D)

It was almost time. He had worked so hard for so long, only for everything to come to this. He closed the door behind him, leaving his son's room. As expected, he was gone with that one window open. He had said that it was to let in some fresh air. He knew better. Now Gabriel was glad that he cleared his schedule for this. Natalie greeted him as he approached his office.

"Good evening, sir."

"Good evening, Natalie. Are all of the arrangements made?"

"Yes, sir…"

"Is something the matter?"

"Sir, are you sure about this? You've done so much to restore your family. Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this?"

"After my experience with that fear Akuma last week, I've realized that Emilie would not condone my actions, no matter how noble their intent. Never mind Adrien's reaction when he learns why I've been so absent in his life. Once all is laid bare, I will submit myself to them and their decision. I'm certain that they will at least make some final arrangements before anything truly major happens."

"I understand, sir. As always, I wish you luck."

"Thank you, Natalie."

"Um, one more thing, sir, if I may be so bold?"

"Yes?"

Gabriel was taken aback when his assistant stepped into his personal space and hugged him. His hands went up before her arms wrapped themselves around his waist. It had been so long since he'd seen such emotion from her that he had forgotten she was capable of it.

"No matter what happens, Gabriel, I'll always be there for you."

Slowly he lowered his arms to her, and after a short moment, returned her hug tenderly. This time Natalie's eyes went wide, even if he couldn't see them.

"You've been by my side for years, sacrificing everything to make sure that my life stayed on track, no matter my goals or methods. I promise you that I will never forget what you've done for me, or what you mean to me and Adrien."

"Thank you."

They stayed like this for a moment more before Gabriel released the hug. He checked his watch.

"It's time."

(B-D)

It was three minutes to ten, and it was already a race between them. They happen to see each other coming from opposite directions, and started to push themselves to get to the meeting place first. It may not be the smartest thing to do, but they were in too good of a mood to care at the moment. A minute later they both made their landing on the rooftop of the College Francoise Dupont.

"That was a close one, M'Lady, but I think I got that one."

"Don't be too sure, kitty. I landed just before you did."

"While I loath to disagree, but…"

"It was a tie."

"Maybe it was…WHOA!"

Both heroes jumped into a back-to-back defensive stance, weapons drawn as a third voice interrupted their conversation. They glanced around, looking for the source of the voice.

"My apologies," said the voice coming from Ladybug's left. "I couldn't help but watch your contest. The way you're able to synchronize with each other has always astounded me." At last, Hawkmoth stepped out of the shadow of the air conditioner unit. He smirked. "You both landed exactly at the same time."

The heroes relaxed their stance, but kept their weapons in hand. They were once again face-to-face with the man. At least now he didn't have that angry red look to him like that one time.

"Ah, so we meet again," greeted Chat. "What happened to your butterfly?"

"I realized that it would be more convenient for all of us if I met you here personally. We won't have far to go to talk."

"Are there any other conditions that you want to change?"

"No, Chat Noir. I'm not Darth Vader."

He glanced somewhat worriedly at his partner. "M'Lady, I'm afraid he's on my wavelength."

"You'd be surprised just how close you are to the truth, son," Chat felt a tingle go up his spine. "but before we start, there's no need for the others to hide. It was both wise and good strategy to bring in your other allies for this. If I had intended to ambush you, that would've put a serious dent in that plan. Fortunately for all of us, that is not my plan."

The heroes shared another look before looking around them. They had gotten the other three heroes their Miraculous and told them to be here in hiding thirty minutes before the meeting place, in hopes that they could see any ambush being formed or something, but with a white Akuma fluttering and glowing above each of their hiding places, they decided to join the duo on the rooftop.

"Have you always been this strategic?" asked a confused Chat.

Hawkmoth shrugged.

"I have my moments. It is difficult at times when my Akumas have a mind of their own. The one time I enforced my will for the battle nearly broke my spirit." He held up his hand, halting a few incoming questions. "I'll explain in a moment. I've arranged for us to use one of the classrooms in this school. I believe some of you are familiar with this school?" The heroes shot worried looks at each other. "Of course I mean from the many times I had Akumatized someone from here. Anyway, please, follow me."

Hawkmoth slowly and deliberately hopped down to the back entrance of the school, followed closely by the now five heroes.

"I'm ready to shield us if this is a trap," whispered Carapace.

"Good," said Ladybug. "I want to believe him, but we must be on guard for now."

"Chat?" said Queen Bee as she put a hand on Chat's shoulder. "Why did he call you 'son'?"

"I've no idea, Bee. It's got me a little creeped out."

Rena Rouge stayed silent, her gears working on the situation. She needed a few more clues, and she really didn't like where the clues were leading her.

Hawkmoth lead them to an intimately familiar door and opened it.

"This is my son's classroom. It seemed fitting to reveal everything here."

On the teacher's desk was a shoebox sized box and a large book that Ladybug recognized.

"The Miraculous book?" she gasped.

"Ah, so you know what this is. As I stated before, I am turning over everything I have related to the Miraculous. The book, obviously. Inside the box is a hard drive of everything I've researched on the Miraculous, as well as a digital copy of the book itself." He opened the box and pulled out a blue and green broach. "And this, while extremely sentimental to me, is the Peacock Miraculous. My ally, Mayura, used it under my direction. I alone bare the responsibility for its use."

"Ok," said Rena and she looked in the box. After checking the contents, she noticed a few smaller flash drives in there as well. "What's with the flash drives?"

"Ah, you found them. Those contain contacts and other information for the Guardian. He should be able to restart the Order of the Miraculous, or whatever he may want to name it." The heroes were shocked to say the least. "It's the least I could do in terms of reparations."

"I understand," sand Chat. "I'm guessing there's a trust fund involved as well?"

They were once again surprised when Hawkmoth smiled largely. Was that pride in his eyes?

"Indeed, son."

"OK, that's it!" exclaimed Chat. "What is it with that? Why do you keep calling me that?"

Hawkmoth sighed. It was a larger audience then he wanted, but it was what needed to be done.

"Nooroo, Dark Wings Fall."

As teenagers, their minds may be somewhat fragile depending on the environment that it developed in, but when the villain's transformation fell to reveal Billionaire Fashion Mogul Gabriel freaking Agreste, he almost laughed as he could envision five small mushroom clouds over the kids' heads as they processed his reveal. He was only slightly surprised at the reaction of one particular hero.

"YOU!"

Ladybug and Carapace were jolted out of their stunned status quick enough to hold back Chat as he made to lunge at the man before him.

"CHAT! Calm down!" yelled Ladybug, still struggling to keep him from attacking.

"Why is it you?!" yelled the angry cat of destruction. "WHY?"

Gabriel lowered his head for a moment when Nooroo appeared next to him.

"Thank you for everything, Nooroo, and again I apologize for my mistreatment of you."

"I'm just glad and proud of you that you did the right thing in the end, Master."

"Goodbye, Nooroo. I renounce you."

"Goodbye!" the kwami said as he vanished. He removed his broach, which was the Butterfly Miraculous, and calmly walked up to the black-clad hero who was still seething, but no longer trying to attack him. "And with this," he said as he handed Chat the Butterfly, "I formerly surrender. As difficult as it is for me to say, I am at your mercy."

Chat stared at him as he now held the power of Hawkmoth in his hand. Everyone around him could tell how conflicted he was from this reveal. Rena looked between the two, then looked away. She really didn't like where her inquisitive mind was going. Gabriel, in the meantime, turned and sat at the teacher's desk, waiting patiently for the heroes' decision. Carapace placed a hand of support on Chat's shoulder as Chat gave Ladybug the Butterfly.

"Ok," said Queen Bee, breaking the silence that had engulfed the classroom, "so can you explain to me why the heck you did all this? I mean, you're even richer and more famous than me. So why in the world would you want terrorize Paris like you did?"

Ladybug caught the glance given by Gabriel.

"Carapace, take these and make sure we got what he said."

"I'll be right back, du…I mean, Ladybug."

Rena facepalmed. "I thought we worked on that," she muttered to herself.

As Carapace left the room, the others remained on guard of the older fashion designer. After a few minutes of silence, they heard what seemed to be a locker door closing. Shortly after that, Carapace walked through the door.

"Everything's legit, LB. Hawk…er, Mr. Agreste gave us the real deal on everything."

Ladybug nodded and holstered her yo-yo, the other heroes following her example. She regarded her idol and nemesis for a moment before she spoke.

"I understand why you said that turning yourself in would cause more harm than good, but it's not off the table, yet. You said that you wanted to tell us why you did what you did?"

"Yes, I did. You may want to sit down, ladies and gentlemen. This may take a little while. I will not bore you with a PowerPoint presentation or anything, but it is a bit of a story and I would appreciate if you could hold your questions until the end."

The heroes nodded and sat down in their seats, unconsciously sitting in their assigned seats. Of course, no one noticed the déjà vu. Gabriel then went into telling his story of how he and his wife had gone to Tibet, found the Miraculous, and everything up to and including the last Akuma battle and the feedback dream he received. He also told them of her current condition and his theory on how she fell into her coma. Queen Bee was crying, and the other girls were hard pressed to hold back their own tears. Carapace nodded along, imagining what he would've done had that been himself and Alya.

Chat, on the other hand, was quietly seething, as he finally learned what had happened to his mother as well as his father's activities in general. He had almost accepted the fact that he would never see his mother again, only to find that she was the cause of his father becoming Hawkmoth. No, this wasn't her fault. Yes, she was the cause, but it was his father that choose the path of Hawkmoth. But didn't he tell him this morning that he wanted to spend more time with him? He seemed genuine about that. Was he trying to make amends? How could he if they turned him in to the authorities? Did he say that this morning to have him be the "no" vote for that scenario? There were too many questions that needed an answer. Then there was the dream…

"What do you want to do from this point on?" asked Chat, his words frosty.

"That all depends on you all," his father answered, "but I do have a request."

"And that is?"

Gabriel looked square in Chat's dubious, green eyes. "That regardless of what happens to me, that you see if there is anything you can do to help my wife. I've only just begun to correct my mistakes regarding my son. If I do turn myself in, per your decision, the last thing I want is for my son to lose his other parent."

Chat broke. Ladybug and Queen Bee were quick to be at his side, consoling the now broken boy as he sobbed uncontrollably. Carapace glanced back at Rena, who nodded sadly. They had figured it out. It was pretty obvious at this point given the interaction between the two. That would explain at least another reason why Gabriel had stopped that he didn't mention in his story. He realized that he was battling his own son. After that dream he had from their last battle, they really couldn't blame him for losing his will to fight. He had to defeat his son to revive his wife. They couldn't imagine a worse no-win scenario.

After a few moments, Chat managed to calm down. Ladybug whispered something to Chat, who nodded.

"I think we need to regroup," she said, gaining everyone's attention. "Mr. Agreste, Chat will take you home, now. We're going to need to sleep on this."

"I understand. Thank you for considering my request. My door is open for you when you make your decision."

"Chat?"

"Yeah. Come with me, sir."

Chat escorted Gabriel out of the classroom, leaving the others. She waited for a minute before she addressed the rest of the team.

"Geez, that was heavy,"

"No kidding, LB," replied Carapace.

"But it's over, now, isn't it?" ask Queen Bee.

"Almost," answered Ladybug. "I need to speak with the guardian about this, then we need to get together and discuss this." She turned to Queen Bee and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Chloe, I know we're not on the best of terms…"

"I know, Ladybug," scoffed the Bee as she looked away. "This could've been the last battle, so of course you needed all of us." After a moment she peeked back at Ladybug, hand still on her shoulder, now with a smirk. "But I do appreciate you bringing me back one more time."

"I've seen you in your private life, Queen Bee. I've seen you trying your best to do good. I hadn't really gotten a chance to tell you before, but you've already earned your spot back on the team. I hope you forgive me."

The Queen teared up a bit as she gave the Bug a crushing hug. "Of course, Ladybug. I would've doubted me too if I were you."

They released each other. Rena just managed to wipe that stupid tear from her eye before they noticed, Carapace had his arm around her. He whispered into her ear, getting a nod.

"OK," said Ladybug, back into business mode, "we need to meet up tomorrow to talk about this. Chat and I already talked about this, and now that we have his Miraculous, I can let you guys keep yours for a while longer." Three whispered shouts of happiness and a fist pump followed. "Queen Bee, would you mind if we meet at your place, tomorrow?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Thanks. I'll see you girls tomorrow at 10am."

"You got it," answered Rena.

"I'll be waiting."

"Carapace, I'm going to need you for a bit. It's time to introduce you to the Guardian."

(B-D)

A/N: What's this? A mid-week update? Yeah, I managed to get this editing done sooner than planned and figured "why wait?" Let me know what you all think in the reviews.


	7. Light Wings: All Laid out

Chapter 7 – Light Wings: All Laid out

It was a short trip, but it was a weird one. Chat was used to carrying people during emergencies, but never did he ever consider the need for him to be carrying his father, with or without the mask. It had been a heck of a meeting, and Chat just couldn't wait to sleep this off like he'd imagine a bad hangover would be. All things considered, he was sorely tempted to try for one.

"Well, here you go, Mr. Agreste," said Chat as he deposited his passenger onto his front door. "We'll get back to you sometime this weekend."

"Thank you, Chat Noir. I won't bother you anymore tonight. We've both had a rather hectic day."

"Yeah, well, I'll see you later."

"There's no need to rush. I've already had Natalie clear your schedule for the weekend." Chat froze, baton in hand as he was able to leave. He slowly turned around to face his father. "I believe I had dropped enough hints during our meeting, son." Gabriel put his hand on Chat's shoulder, causing him to flinch. "I do understand how you feel, Adrien. I knew you wouldn't take the news of my 'extracurricular activities' very well, but you did handle yourself well considering the circumstances. I had suspected you for a while, but you did a good job keeping this from me. Anyway, it's been a long night, and you certainly don't look like you wish to speak with me right now, so I'll let you be. If you need some time to process tonight, well, I can't think of a safer bodyguard for my son than you." He smirked as Chat rubbed the back of his head. "Feel free to pack what you need. You'll get no trouble from me. I meant what I said this morning, son. I'm not going to control you anymore. You've already proven to me that you are of good judgement for your age." He removed his hand and turned to enter his house. "Goodnight, Adrien."

He took two steps before his son's hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked back in mild surprise.

"It's hard to trust you right now, father, but I am proud of you for doing the right thing, tonight. I don't think I can say much more right now, though."

Gabriel placed his hand on his son's as he looked back. "I know. You've grown into a strong young man and I hadn't noticed it until last week. Go. Do what you must. I'll be here after you've met with your team."

Chat nodded. He then turned and used his baton to leave the front door. Gabriel grinned as he closed the door behind him. Still working to keep his identity secret. That must be hard wired by now. Anyway, it was time to retire to his bedroom. It really had been a long night, and there was still an entire weekend of anticipation to follow.

(B-D)

The two traveling heroes had finally stopped on a roof in a nondescript part of Paris. The Turtle glanced about, trying to figure out where they were.

"Hang tight for a minute, Carapace. I'll be right back."

"No problem, LB. I doubt anyone can even see me up here."

Ladybug smiled as she dropped down to the alley, releasing her transformation as she landed. Marinette calmly exited the alley as if taking a shortcut and knocked on the door of a massage parlor. An old Asian man with a red Hawaiian-style button-down shirt answered the door a moment later and motioned her to enter.

"So," the short man began as he closed the door behind her, "judging from the lack of media coverage, I assume that the meeting went well?"

"Yeah" she sighed. "He gave us everything and then some. I have Carapace waiting on the next roof with the box. I thought tonight might be a good time to introduce you two now that everything is over."

The man stroked his thin beard a few times before nodding.

"Before you leave, Marinette, there is something that I must tell you."

After a quick message, Marinette transformed and called Carapace to come to the door as his normal self. She reverted back to herself and left the building, pulling out her burner phone. A couple of minutes later there was a knock on the door.

"Yeah, umm, special delivery?" stuttered Nino as he was invited into the parlor.

"Thank you, Nino," said the man. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time. Please, have a seat.

"Umm…"

"Master!" cried Wayzz as he flew out to hug the man. Nino almost panicked until he saw the man affectionately return the hug. "Nino has been a terrific wielder. You would be proud of him."

"I am, Wayzz."

"Nino," said Wayzz, "this is Master Fu, the Guardian of the Miraculous."

Nino held out his hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you, dude…er, I mean sir."

Fu chuckled as he shook his hand. "It is ok. You may call me Fu, or 'dude.'"

"Thanks, dude. Where'd LB go? I thought she was here."

"She was, but she left before you came down."

"Ah, I get it. Secret identities and all that."

"Yes, but considering your team, and recent developments, that time may be at an end."

Surprise covered his face as Fu sat him down with the Miraculous package. Fu had been looking forward to this meeting, not just with the team and Hawkmoth, but to finally sit down with Nino in person.

(B-D)

Chat had just left his room through the window after packing an overnight bag. He had planned on cashing in on Nino's open invite tonight, despite the reassurances he got from his father. Yeah, THAT was going to take some getting used to. Keeping an eye out as he traveled, he noticed someone waiting on the roof of Nino's apartment. He landed on the other side of the roof from the figure and placed his bag on the ground. A pair of large brown eyes met his and blinked.

"I knew you'd come here sooner or later," said the brown-eyed silhouette.

"I'm not sure how you figured that, Rena," the black cat replied.

The fox tsked as she snapped her fingers in dismay. "Dang, how'd I forget that you have night vision. You totally ruined my cool entrance."

Chat shrugged. "Sorry about that. We can try that again if you want."

"Nah, I'm good," she waved off as she left the shadow of the rooftop entrance. "I did want to talk to you, though, and Carapace, too."

"About tonight? Yeah, that was kinda rough. I thought we were going to talk about it tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but we wanted to make sure that you were OK."

Chat lightly scratched his chin in thought, before remembering that Rena and Carapace knew each other outside of the mask. After seeing what happened to them during the battle of Heroes' Day, he had cooled his pursuit of his Lady's identity for a good while.

"I'll be fine. I doubt any of us were expecting HIM to be Hawkmoth, of all people."

"I know. Kinda blew my mind, too. Since Carapace is still out, I wanted you to know that we're both here for you."

Now his eyebrow raised a bit in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Rena shook her head slightly. "Look, I'm used to doing this for my best friend, but I realized that you one of them, too…"

"That's sweet, Rena…"

"…in my civilian life."

Chat paused, his eyes again meeting his teammate's. "What do you mean?"

"Chat, I'm a journalist, or at least I'm working to become one. I've been covering you guys since day one. I was one of the top civilian experts on Paris' superheroes before I was given this. After tonight, I just got too many clues." She gauged his reaction, seeing that he was beginning to understand. She grimaced as she pushed on. "Your dad wasn't exactly subtle, was he, Sunshine?"

Chat palmed his face as yet again people figured him out.

"Years of secrecy and in one night two people figure me out. Ladybug's gonna kill me."

"Carapace knows, too."

"Great…" drawled Chat.

Rena approached the cat, arms open and palms up. "Look, this doesn't change how either of us feel for you. We're your friends, on both sides of the mask."

"Wait, so you know me?"

"I thought I did, but know that I know the rest of the story, you make a lot more sense. I sit behind you every day, you know."

"What? Mari…?"

Rena barked out a laugh, taking a knee as she continued to rein herself in.

"Oh…oh man, that's…HA! Hang on…" she barely got out as she recovered from her sudden case of mirth. Finally, she was able to stand, but the wide smile on her face wasn't going away anytime soon. "Wow, you got me, there, Sunshine boy. No, I'm not her. My best friend would be much more creative with illusions then I am."

"Wait, Al…ok, wow. How did I not see that?"

"I was asking myself the same thing about you."

"I'm also going to have to agree with you about Mari."

"Hey, I'm woman enough to admit it."

"So where does this put us?"

"Where? If anything, this makes us closer. We can support each other more. That's why I'm here."

Chat closed the distance between them and hugged the fox, who returned the hug.

"Thanks, Aly…Rena."

"Careful," she smirked. "You might make my boyfriend jealous."

"Carapace or Nino?" She let he think about that. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah," she smiled as she released him. "We both figured it out tonight. He should've been back by now, but I guess LadyBug's got him busy."

"Probably went to see the Guardian. I've met him a couple of times, but never at his place."

"I guess that just another thing to not think about."

"It's always bothered me how often we have to do that."

"Believe me, it was worse before I got on the inside. I also had to learn discretion, too."

"Yeah, we've always appreciated your restraint," he smirked, "whenever you used it, that is."

"Hey! I've gotten better!"

"I know, I know."

They laughed with each other for a bit, feeling more comfortable as time went on. Rena made sure not to hit any sore spots while the night slipped away in conversation. It was midnight when Carapace returned, and after a quick briefing they tagged out. Rena went on home while Nino and Adrien went down to the apartment for a boys' night. The following morning, they would both agree that they had done the right thing.

(B-D)


	8. Light Wings: Brunch Confessions

Chapter 8 – Light Wings: Brunch Confessions

She had made sure to have everything ready for her guests. It wasn't every day that she would order a ton of food and give no reason for it. She just pulled her weight and they did what they were told. Sometimes it was good to be the queen. She was, however, trying not to do that in recent months. After losing her place on Team Miraculous, she had been a constant target of Hawkmoth for weeks. If the Akuma wasn't after her, they ended up hitting someone on her father's staff. As time went on, she had realized just why Ladybug was so adamant about the whole secret identity thing. She started feeling something she hadn't felt in a long time. Guilt. It was then that she started to treat the staff as people. Yeah, the respect will come with time, but at least now she wasn't treating them like slaves, anymore. In fact, today was the first time in days (she's still a work in progress) that she almost blew up on someone. They just kept asking questions about her breakfast order. That person really did need to learn about discretion. Anyway, she had a small breakfast buffet set up in the living room of her suite. The sliding glass door leading to her balcony was open and she was lounging on her couch, talking to Pollen, her Kwami. At precisely 10am, Chat Noir and Carapace arrived, followed by Ladybug a few minutes later. Rena finally arrived at five minutes after that, so things started pretty much on time for the team.

"Well, guys," started Ladybug, stopping everyone from attacking the buffet, "I guess this is it, but before we get started, there's something that needs to be addressed."

"What, are we finally going to drop the whole secret identity thing, Bugaboo?"

She arched an eyebrow at her partner. "Well, you sure know how to ruin the suspense, Chat."

"Wait, huh?" he said with a double-take.

"It's true, guys," said Carapace. "With Hawkdude gone, it's safe for us to know each other."

"And how would you know this?" asked Chloe.

"Well, the guy who gave us our Miraculous? I was intro'ed to him last night. Looks he needs an assistant, and guess who that get to be? This guy!"

"You actually volunteered for more work?" asked Rena.

"What shocks me is that you're so willing to do this," said Chat, eyes solely on his partner.

"I've wanted to for so long, Chat, but like I've said all this time, it was too dangerous. Now that the danger has passed, well," she started to absently twirl her left pigtail, "I just hope you won't be disappointed in who normal me is."

Chat stood and held her at arm's length.

"Bugaboo, I would never be disappointed in you."

"We'll see in a minute."

"I wouldn't worry about it, LB," said Rena. "I'm sure we'll all be cool with who you are."

"I'm pretty sure you'll be upset," she mumbled.

Rena was about to respond when Chat embraced his partner in a tight hug.

"When we first started this hero thing and I saw you stand up to Hawkmoth that first time, I swore that I would love the girl under that mask. I've only grown more and more fond of you ever since. Please, M'Lady, don't be afraid of me."

Ladybug went as red as her suit as Chat made him proclamation. She was ever so grateful that her face was covered by his firm yet surprisingly comfortable chest. She put her arms around him, completing the hug. The others shielded their eyes as both hero's transformations dropped in a swirl of green and pink. Marinette opened her eyes, only seeing the white of an opened button-down shirt. She could hear some kind of high pitched noise in the background, but that was lost to her as the hands of the detransformed Chat fell to her waist and he took a half-step back.

"Huh, okay. Now that makes sense," said Chloe.

"M-Mari?"

"ADRIAN!" she yelled, almost escaping his grasp. Almost.

"Oh, no you don't, Bugaboo!" he happily exclaimed, wrapping his arms around his love with a quick spin. "I'm not letting you get away from me, this time. I finally found you!"

"B-b-b-but…" Marinette just couldn't think anymore.

Meanwhile, Nino, having dropped his transformation, was holding down Rena as she had been emitting that high-pitch sound since the light died down. She was slightly too distracted to drop her transformation, yet.

"My ships!"

"Come on, breath, dude!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Well," huffed Chloe, seeing as her guests were all completely distracted. "Alright, Kwamis, I have snacks for you all while these dorks get their acts together."

Very quickly five small creatures appeared before her, each wearing a look of anticipation.

"I'm sooo looking forward to this," drooled Plagg.

"Just leave some for the rest of us," reminded Tikki.

"I do not think that will be a problem," said Wayzz as he approached the buffet.

"I'm just going to munch on this and enjoy the show," said Trixx. "So Alya was right, after all."

"Indeed," said Pollen. "It's always fun to watch The Reveal, especially with this group."

Chloe watched for a moment as the kwami swarmed all over the buffet table as the drama unfolded on the other side of the room.

"No, Mari. I'm only disappointed in that I couldn't tell that it was you this whole time. I'm so happy that it was you!"

"I-I'm glad it was you, too…"

"And now I can die happy," said Alya, leaning heavily on Nino, while still somehow emitting some sort of squee.

(B-D)

Some time had passed, a lot of food was eaten, confessions were confirmed, and stronger bonds were formed. A lot had been accomplished that morning, and yet the main event was only now beginning.

"It may be hard for me to, um, concentrate like this," said Marinette. She was currently on the couch in the most comfortable trap she had ever encountered, the arms of her crush and partner, Adrian.

"You'll just have to adapt, Mari," he smirked broadly, enjoying the feel of her body as he reclined on the couch with her back against his chest. "You've always been good at that on both sides of the mask."

"I'm trying," she whispered.

"Hey, Nino," called Chloe, "is she going to be ok?"

"Oh yeah," the DJ replied. "She's been wishing for this since school started."

"Oh, who cares about them? I was talking about Alya."

"I know," he smirked.

Chloe matched his smirk. She never did hate Nino. She just didn't care for him that much. She was later able to appreciate his ability to not let many things affect him, and tried to imitate that as she began to work on herself. As for the new couple, sure it hurt when her Adrikins and Marinette got together in her own room, but that was overwhelmed by the fact the girl she was so jealous of for so long was also her hero. So many things made sense after that bit of knowledge became known. After remembering how their hero personas interacted, she knew she didn't stand a chance. She did feel better when Adrian told her that she was still and would always be his friend. She knew that she had Marinette's forgiveness from her earlier treatment of her, but she would still make the effort to make things better between them. Her mood was also lifted by the fact that the kwami had decided to use her as a perch for the coming discussion. She appreciated not being the only one in the room without a couch buddy.

"So," said Plagg, "are we going to talk about the reason why we're all here?"

This sobered everyone instantly.

"Way to destroy the moment, dude," quipped Nino. "Kwami of Destruction indeed."

"Not all destruction is physical, you know," the kwami quipped. "Though this is something I could've gone without."

"Yeah, no kidding," said Alya, finally calming down to settle her back onto Nino's chest.

The teens were silent for a while before Nino spoke up. "So how do we do this?"

"Well," started Marinette, "I think the first thing we need to do is to hear what Adrian thinks of this. We are discussing his future." She felt his arms tighten slightly around her.

"I really don't know how I missed you all this time, Bugaboo."

"You were blinded by spots, dude."

The girls giggled a bit at that as Adrian rubbed the back of his head.

"Can't argue with that. Thank you, Princess. As you said, my father terrorized the city, but he gave up willingly, and he did it to revive my mom. Does that make things right?"

"I donno, man," said Nino. "I mean, he became a supervillain with the power to turn other people into supervillains. He had his reasons, and they were good reasons, but he went about it the totally wrong way. People got hurt, some almost killed."

"But nobody died," Chloe responded. "I know, that doesn't make it better, but there were a few Akumas that were pretty deadly."

"Yeah," said Adrien. "Mari's dad sure knows how to deliver a beat down. And I couldn't really fight against him. He's Mari's father!"

"Oh Adrien," sighed Marinette.

"Yeah, that was pretty rough," said Plagg. "I think the worst one was Kagami, all three times."

"I'd have to go with Alix," said Marinette with a shiver. "I held you as you faded from existence."

He gently squeezed his (hopefully soon-to-be) girlfriend. "You have a point. My memory is a bit fuzzy on her."

"Time travel will do that," said Alya, "but back on topic. Your dad broke the law. I hate to say it, but he should to be brought to justice."

The others watched Adrien's reaction, feeling awkward as to how to continue without hurting him.

"Father is the only family I have left," the model started, "and I knew that he loved me. He just didn't know how to show it that well."

"There's an understatement," snickered Nino. Adrien couldn't even be mad at that one.

"But still," said Chloe, "he did it for his family, and he was desperate. I remember a few times when I saw your parents together when I was young. I saw this look on his face when he thought nobody was watching as he was staring at Mrs. Agreste. I hadn't seen someone so devoted to someone until I saw Chat and Ladybug up close…oh."

"Don't worry, Chlo," Adrien waved off. "I am devoted to her like that. I didn't know that father was like that with mom, though."

"Oh, it wasn't that often, but it became a game to me after I caught it a few more times. He did finally catch me. That was the first time I saw him actually smile at me. It was kind of like a private game between us from then on until…" Chloe trailed off, not wanting to continue to the sad memories. "Anyway, if you loved someone so much that you'd literally do anything to bring them back, I'm sure most of us would've taken that chance."

"Can we really send someone to jail for being desperate?" asked Nino.

"It's happened before," said Alya. "I looked up a few things on this online last night, and while there isn't anything close to this, there's enough collateral and psychological damage that could put him away for years. That's even accounting for Mari's magic reset button."

"I see what you mean," sighed Adrien. "I don't want to lose him, but he did surrender. I'm sure we can be somewhat lenient due to that and what we now know."

"Is that really up to us, though?" asked Nino.

"We've been the only ones able to fight him all this time," said Chloe. "Even if three of us were the main part-timers, I'd say we've earned a say in how this goes."

"Chlo's got a point," said Adrien. "I do feel weird being one of the ones deciding the fate of my own father, or the fact that I've been fighting him for the past couple of years, now. Seriously, what's up with that?"

"Try not to distract yourself, kitty," chided Marinette. "We should get a grip on what we want to do and be united when we tell the police about this. I'm sure they're VERY interested in an update."

"True that, girl," replied Alya. "That's all people could talk about on the blog. The police even stopped by my home asking for an update. I almost answered the door as Rena."

The group laughed lightly at this before Chloe spoke up again.

"So if that's how it's going to be, then this shouldn't take too long. I cancelled by whole day for this, but I really could use some therapy shopping right now."

"Heh, I don't blame you," said Alya. "So, let's just get this out of the way and see what happens. We'll discuss the whys afterwards. Show of hands if you think we should NOT turn him in?"

"Alya!"

"No, Mari, let's do this now so we at least know where we are."

"Yeah, unless you want to spend all day here," said Chloe. "I wouldn't mind it too much, but I will need some me time eventually."

"Alright," the bluenette conceded. "Like Alya said, who's for not sending Mr. Agreste to jail?"

After a moment two hands went up, followed by a third. The dark skinned couple shared a look before joining their friends.

"That wasn't peer pressure, was it?" asked Adrien.

"Nah, bro," Nino replied. "We've had a lot to think about."

"I'm surprised that you're all on the same page on this already," said Trixx.

"True," added Wayzz. "It's not often that a group of wielders are so in synch, especially on something like this."

"Honestly," said Nino, "as much as I want him to face justice and stuff, I just don't want Adrien to lose the only family he has left."

"I hate having to agree with you so much," huffed Chloe.

"He's been sincere about everything he's said since that last Akuma," said Marinette. "And he told Adrien how much he wanted to change even before he surrendered. I believe he may deserve a second chance."

"He'd already figured out Adrien by then, too," pointed out Alya. "If he were still the badguy, he would've taken his ring before ambushing us last night. Or worse, he could've turned him against us. As manipulative as a guy like him can be, his actions yesterday sure says otherwise."

"He's definitely changed since the last attack," mused Adrien. "Looking back, I think I can remember the defeat in his eyes. He'd never locked himself away like that, before."

"So we don't turn him in," summarized Marienette, "but how do we explain that to the police? I'm sure they won't accept 'he did it for his family.'"

The group sat silently contemplating the current issue.

"We could always fake his death."

"PLAGG!" yelled Adrian, almost ejecting his girl from his grasp.

"What? It's worked before."

"What?" exclaimed the teens.

"No, Plagg," chided Tikki. "that only worked because forensics wasn't even a thing back then. The world's advanced a lot since then. Besides, even if we could find a body similar to his, they can look at the DNA, now."

"Wow, this went dark real fast," said Alya.

"I don't even think she's kidding," said a concerned Marinette.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Nino as he gently extracted himself from his girlfriend and began pacing around, "I think I have something, and we won't need to do any of," he gestured to the two Kwami, "THAT."

"So what's your bright idea, guardian-in-training?" asked Chloe.

Nino smirked at the title. "We do what Plagg says, and the worst thing we have to do is lie."

Marinette frowned, but listened to the new idea anyway. She felt that she wouldn't like it, and after hearing the idea, she liked it even less than she feared.

(B-D)

It was later in the evening and Lt. Roger Raincomprix sat at his desk, the entire team of heroes stood or sat on the other side of his desk. Sometimes he hated being one of the leads in the Akuma division, but if his ears were working properly, that wouldn't be an issue anymore. The heroes didn't look very different from how they usually look, but even he could see the wariness in their features.

"And that's how it happened," finished Ladybug. "We had to recover our strength before coming to update you on what happened."

"OK," the officer sighed. This paperwork would get him Akumatized if the villain hadn't already…wow. "I just want to make sure I understand this, and you know I'll need a report from each of you because…"

Rena placed a small flash drive on his desk.

"Here are our statements."

Roger inspected the drive before putting it to the side. "Thanks. So just making sure that I understand, Hawkmoth's surrender the other day was a ruse to ambush you, but you were prepared and defeated him. During the battle Chat Noir tried to Cataclysm his weapon, but Hawkmoth dodged wrong and was hit by it instead, and only his Miraculous survived?"

"Yeah," answered Chat, clearly distressed. "I wanted him to face justice, but not that way."

"Believe me, I know what you mean. I've had several incidents like that, too. You know, back when we had normal crime to deal with, but we won't be talking about that. We've had to create new rules for this supervillain thing, and normally I'd have to bring you in for questioning, but you guys have earned our complete trust in these matters." Roger stood and placed a hand on Chat's shoulder. "If you need someone to talk to about this, I'm here for you." Receiving a nod from the cat he looked over the group again. "Thank you all for your assistance during all of this. I'll go ahead and handle the paperwork on this and I'll inform the mayor as to what happened. I'm sure he'll want to have a celebration or something now that this is finally over."

"You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would," said Carapace.

"I try to keep my personal feelings out of my work, even if Hawkmoth made things personal on several occasions. I wish we could've processed him like the criminal he was, or at least have a body, but things worked out differently. You'd be surprised how often that happens. Oh well. At least it's over, though, right?"

"Yes," stated Ladybug, who had been unusually quiet during the whole conversation, "I can say with certainty that it's officially over."

Lt. Roger nodded. "That's the bottom line this city needs. I'm sure the mayor is going to want you guys to make some kind of announcement. I'm sure you'll get that message," he said, glancing at Queen Bee. She nodded back. "Alright, then. Is there anything else?"

"No sir," they answered.

"Then with all due respect, I hope we don't have to see you all anytime soon. Dealing with one supervillain is enough for a lifetime."

"We are discussing that," Ladybug replied as they all stood. "We'll be around, but maybe not so often until we're needed."

"But we do understand," continued Chat. "We hope you won't be all that busy, too."

"Thanks for that," Roger smiled. "Well, this paperwork isn't going to do itself."

"No problem, officer," said Bee. "I'll take them out. See you around."

With that the heroes managed to leave the police station without much fanfare or drama. Soon they were roof-hopping until they were near Nino's apartment, which was the first rest stop they came across.

"Well," said Bee, "that went much better than I expected."

"Yeah," replied Carapace. "Dude, your acting is top notch. How'd you do it?"

"Well, I ended up going over the plan with my father, and he was the one that helped me go over just how our fight could've gone, the rest was simply playing the role."

"I guess those acting lessons last season finally came in handy."

"Yeah…wait. How did you know about that, M'lady?"

Ladybug drew into herself as she began poking her index fingers together. "Well," she answered shyly, "I may or may not have memorized your schedule."

Chat's eyebrow rose above his mask.

"She's gotten better over the years," inserted Rena. "You'd be surprised what she did for love."

"I'll take your word for it."

Bee lightly smacked Chat's arm. "Focus, Chat."

"Right, sorry."

All eyes now turned to Ladybug. She regained her composure with a deep breath and met the gaze of each of her teammates.

"Alright, everyone. Our work is…"

"Whoa! Hold up, LB," interrupted Carapace as he held the right side of his head. "I'm getting a weird feeling from Wayzz."

"What's going on?" asked the team in various ways.

"Um, hang on. Let me focus…yeah. The Fu man needs us. Follow me!"

Carapace leapt from the rooftop, his teammates lagging only by a second before catching up to him. The team kept quiet, not sure as to what could be happening, only Ladybug and Chat Noir wondering how Wayzz still had a connection to Master Fu even when he was with Nino. That thought fled from their minds as they recognized the very familiar surroundings around the Agreste mansion. Carapace stopped on the roof across from Adrien's room.

(B-D)

A/N: I have to say, this was the hardest chapter to write. Having a bunch of teenage action heroes having a meeting is not exactly normal, but hey, this is what I do. Characters in different situations. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the reveal and the cliffhanger. Next chapter is the end of the story, so stay tuned and review! :)


	9. Light Wings: The Champion

Chapter 9 – Light Wings: The Champion

Carapace leapt from the rooftop, his teammates lagging only by a second before catching up to him. The team kept quiet, not sure as to what could be happening, only Ladybug and Chat Noir wondering how Wayzz still had a connection to Master Fu even when he was with Nino. That thought fled from their minds as they recognized the very familiar surroundings around the Agreste mansion. Carapace stopped on the roof across from Adrien's room.

"He's inside," reported Carapace.

Ladybug nodded to Rena, who pulled out her flute and played a short tune. To the inattentive eye, nothing seemed to change, so it would make sense that they wouldn't have seen that the trees were no longer shaking with the wind. They would've also missed the five brightly colored heroes swinging one-by-one into the ever open window on Adrien's room. The heroes checked their surroundings before relaxing enough to turn their attention to each other.

"So what's the plan?" whispered Rena.

"First we need to know if Master Fu is in danger."

"He's not, LB," Carapace quietly answered, "but he did want us here ASAP."

"Okay. Let's refuel and go as ourselves. Be ready to transform at any moment."

The team acknowledged and dropped their transformations. After the kwami had a quick snack, the crew exited Adrien's room as themselves. Gabriel had given the house staff the weekend off, not wanting them to spread rumors about his fate if things didn't go well for him. It was only Gabriel, Adrien, Natalie, and the Gorilla still present. As Gorilla was Gabriel's second most trusted staff member (he did entrust the man to protect his son every day, after all), he felt that he should know what had happened. It was a surprisingly uneventful conversation, with Natalie only having to talk Gorilla down once while he was choking out Gabriel. Like Natalie, he told Gabriel in no uncertain terms that he would protect the boy, even if it was from his own father. The large man was shocked when his boss, after regaining the ability to breathe again, smiled and thanked him. Gabriel was glad that even through his villainous phase, that he had chosen his inner circle well. He assured the big man that he would no longer be a threat to his family, apologized for Akumatizing him, and told Natalie to give him a raise. The Gorilla declined the raise, although he didn't fight it after Gabriel insisted.

The teenagers made their way to Gabriel's office. They remained quiet as they walked through the hallway. They paused at the double doors of Gabriel's office, and with a nod, Adrien opened it and entered. As they filed in, they saw Natalie stand up from one of the lush easy chairs in the corner and approach them.

"I'm glad you all could make it," she greeted. "Your father and the guardian are in the sanctuary. Please stand here and I'll send you down."

"Sanctuary?" asked Adrien as they stood bunched up against each other.

Natalie made sure that they could fit before going up to the portrait of Emilie and pushed a set of hidden buttons. The teens made several sounds of alarm as the floor lowered before they realized that they were now in a glass elevator. The elevator was obviously made for two adults, not five teenagers, but fortunately they were all skinny as sticks. It didn't take long for them to all gape at the sight that revealed itself as the elevator descended.

"How in the world did he pull this off?" asked Alya.

"And how did no one notice all this?" asked Chloe. "There's no way he could've done this without Daddy's help."

"I didn't even know this was here," said Adrien as he grabbed for Marinette's hand.

"Dude, I love you like a bro, but let go of my hand."

"Sorry," as Adrien jerked his hand away. "I was looking for…"

The elevator opened, putting a hold on any further conversation as they saw three adults across the large room, one of whom was inside a glass casket of some sort. They approached carefully, doing their best to no step on or touch anything.

"I've seen her before," whispered Marinette, "in a picture somewhere."

"That's Mrs. Agreste," informed Chloe. "How has she not aged? I must know her secret."

The team gave her a deadpan look.

"I would not recommend a magic-base coma for any type of beauty tip, Ms. Bourgeois."

"Oh, sorry, sir," said the humbled Chloe.

"We are glad you are here," stepped in Fu. "We are about to begin and will need the kwami to help out."

Suddenly there were six kwami zipping around Master Fu.

"Nooroo?" questioned Nino.

"Greetings, wielders. I am glad to finally meet you for a good occasion."

"So what's going on?" asked Marinette.

"We are going to attempt to revive Mrs. Agreste," answered Fu. He gave the teens a moment to recover from their shock. "Gabriel and I have discussed the best method for the healing, and we brainstormed quite the interesting plan."

The teens listened intently as they described what they planned to do. It was a sound plan. Fu would use the Butterfly miraculous to make Gabriel his champion, giving him the power to fix things. He would then use that power to fix the Peacock and then heal his wife, using hope and determination as the primary emotions to power his ability. The kwami would lend some of their power to the Akuma before going to Gabriel. Simple, straight forward and no room for error.

"Mr. Agreste is obviously the one for this job," agreed Marinette. "I wasn't aware that you could use multiple miraculous, but it makes sense now that I think about it."

"It's not optimal, Marinette," replied Fu as he handed her the Peacock, "but there are times such as this that require a more hands-on approach."

Adrien bowed deeply to Fu, thanking him for his help. After a few words, Adrien stepped up to his father. They had only spoken a few times over the weekend, but not yet on friendly terms. They had dealt with each other more as business associates rather than family. The son stood before his father, the taller man staring down at his son. All eyes were on the stare down as the two considered each other. No one had noticed that Natalie had arrived on the elevator and took her place behind the teens. No words were spoken, but with the rise on an eyebrow, the twitch of the lip, they seemed to communicate solely through facial expressions. Gabriel's eyes softened as he opened his arm slightly. Adrien smirked before stepping into a hug from his father. For once, there was no awkwardness. Both Agrestes had let down their walls, at least for a moment, feeling a connection that had been buried for far too long. Before, there was only loss. The loss of his wife, his joy, his well-planned life, all lost in the space of a few moments. That on top of his constant defeats by the hands of his own son over the past two years had taken its toll on him. His hope had turned into desperation. Not for the first time was he thankful for that last Akuma that had opened his eyes, to shake him to his core, to the point where he could actually see things from a clearer point of view. He knew he would have to pay for what he had done, and he accepted that. His son and his friends had been far more forgiving than he would've been, but he could not argue with the end result. Well, he wasn't one to let himself get too far ahead of himself, but he did find something that had rekindled within him that had been missing for years. Hope.

Gabriel slowly released his embrace of his son, Adrien following suit. They both knew that he had a job to do. With a smile and a nod, the man stepped away and stood before the Guardian.

"Thanks to my son, I have what I need."

Fu smiled. "Very good. Nooroo, are you ready?"

"Yes, Guardian. And Gabriel? I'm glad to see that it has come to this."

Gabriel smiled. "As am I, Nooroo. I have complete faith in you."

"It is well placed." Nooroo nodded to Fu.

"Nooroo, light wings, RISE!"

The magical light overtook the short form of the Guardian. As the light faded, everyone was impressed with the result. Fu stood a little straighter, giving him about another two inches in height. He wore a suit that resembled Hawkmoth's except it had a light hue of purple in the jacket and pants and was darker on the lapels. His mask covered his head, but left enough open space around his mouth to see his mustache and goatee. His cane appeared in his right and stood as a gentleman. Despite not moving much as he transformed, the teens were impressed. Gabriel nodded in approval.

"Does everyone get a suit with Nooroo?" asked Adrien.

"It varies by the wielder, Adrien," answered Fu. "Now, to the task at hand."

"I am ready."

Fu held out his cane, popping up the crystal top of his cane, to reveal the white Akuma waiting inside. It fluttered to his hand. With a glance to the other kwami, he began to funnel energy into it. The Kwami floated down and each placed a hand on his, each providing some power of their own. The resulting Akuma was a remarkable sight. The observing teens had trouble figuring out exactly what color the Akuma was. It seemed change rapidly between white, purple, red, black, yellow, green, and orange. The colorful Akuma fluttered to Gabriel's glasses, becoming one with the object. A white butterfly outlined his face as Fu spoke.

"Fixer, I am the Guardian. I shall give you the power fix any problem you come across. You shall use this power to fix the Peacock miraculous and your wife's condition. Are we agreed?"

"Yes, Guardian," replied Gabriel as he was enveloped in light purple bubbles, very much like what many Parisians had seen before. As the bubbles faded from existence, an apparent new man stood in Gabriel's place. He still stood tall, but now he wore pitch-black shirt and slacks and a classic light purple tie. On top of that, he had a short sleeve, knee-length purple trench coat and gloves running up to his elbow matching his tie. His white belt with a silver buckle contrasting with the shirt, the buckle matching his new monocle. Speaking of which, his glasses had converted into a high tech monocle, gleaming silver reflecting whatever light hit it, and covering the right side of his face. The back end of it sprung three silver wings just behind his ear. His eye appeared red through the rectangular black glass. On his head rested a classic black top hat, complete with a white ring at the base. Finally, strapped to his back, was a white three-foot staff with a black sledgehammer head at the end and a matching pickaxe.

"I am so glad we don't have to fight him," said Adrien.

"Yeah, dude. That pickaxe looks wicked."

"Well, at least he looks better than the other Akumas," observed Chloe.

"Just be aware, children," said the Fixer with a raised eyebrow, "that physical problems are not the only thing I can fix."

"And there's the intimidation," said Alya as she took a step back. "We're sure this is a good idea, right?"

Fixer smirked before turning his back on the team. "You have nothing to fear from me" he said, his voice now much deeper. "My weapons are meant to heal and to repair. I'm not sure if I even could hurt anything, but enough talk. I have a job to do. Guardian?"

Guardian nodded to Marinette, who handed the Peacock to Fixer. His monocle began scanning the Miraculous, finding whatever flaw there was. He glanced at the Butterfly and Ladybug Miraculous, then refocused on the Peacock. After a few minutes of scanning, he lowered his hand and tossed the Peacock into the air. He pulled out his pickaxe, twirled it a few times, and with a mighty upward swing he hit the incoming Peacock with the tip of the pickaxe. A blinding blue flash caused everyone to shield their eyes. When the light faded, Fixer handed Guardian the perfectly intact Peacock for inspection. Upon further review, Guardian smiled. First mission accomplished, Fixer then turned his attention to the container of his wife, his monocle doing its thing as it scanned her. After several long minutes, his cybernetic eye stopped. He looked back at his audience and made a hand motion. Everyone jumped slightly when Natalie broke their ranks to approach Fixer. He gestured for her to stand before him and again used his cyber-monocle to scan her.

"Fixing her condition is far more complicated than fixing the Peacock," he informed them. "I have found a way, however. Please do not interfere, regardless of what you see me do."

"Understood, Fixer," answered Guardian as he placed himself between the Champion and the teens. "Wielders, you may want to transform for your own protection."

"After that light show from before, I'd say that's a good idea," said Alya.

The other teens nodded and transformed as Fixer opened the glass tube for the first time in years. After a glance at Carapace to ensure he was ready, he unsheathed his sledge hammer.

"I can't believe that this is the way to cure my wife," he grimaced.

"I'm just glad that there was a way, sir."

He smiled this time. "Indeed. And I shall repair your damage as well. Do you trust me?"

"Always."

"Then no matter what you do, do not move, and go limp. You'll understand in a moment."

Natalie raised an eyebrow. Fixer solemnly raised his sledge hammer of healing, causing the Miraculous ladies to take a step before being halted by Guardian, he spun and slammed his hammer into Natalie's chest, a green wave of energy washing over her with the contact, flinging her into the waiting arms of Guardian. She gasped as she was caught, only realizing after the fact that the pain in her body caused by the Peacock was gone. Her smile was enough confirmation for Fixer to turn toward his wife, then slammed the hammer upon the body of the one he loved most of all. This time the blinding light was green, not that anyone but Carapace could notice. The shockwave hit them shortly after, nearly knocking them off their feet.

"LIVE!" Fixer screamed as he slammed the hammer on his wife once again.

The team, now on guard, braced themselves and Guardian covered Natalie as the next shockwave washed over them again.

"Did that feel stronger than…" started Ladybug.

"LIVE!"

Chat had to brace Ladybug as she wasn't ready for that one, which was indeed stronger than the previous wave.

"LIVE!"

"SHELTER!" Now behind the protective shield, the other wielders could relax a little, but were still concerned about what was happening on the other side of the shield. "You all alright?"

"Yeah," answered Ladybug as she checked on her friends. "What is he doing?"

"He is healing his wife," responded Guardian.

"But he's hitting her with a hammer!" yelled Rena.

"And since when has an Akuma made sense?"

Several hands flinched, but none went up all the way.

"Touché," said Rena.

Chat glanced at Natalie for a moment, wondering why she needed healing in the first place. This train of thought was derailed with the next shockwave washing over the hexagonal shield. They all then watched in morbid fascination as Fixer repeatedly slammed his healing sledgehammer, yelling his battle cry with every swing. The waves crashed over the shield over and over again as Fixer poured more power into each swing. Finally, Carapace's shield began to crack.

"Brace yourselves!" called Guardian.

Another wave hit the shield, shattering it to nothing. They prepared for another wave to hit, but it didn't come. The only sound that could be heard was a low rumble and heavy breathing for the worn-out Champion. Fixer glanced around him, seeing the damage surrounding him. Using the last of his strength, he flung the pickaxe into the wall, washing the interior of the area with a blue wave, repairing the structure as it moved along. A quick nod to Guardian and he recalled the butterfly to him. With that, everyone detransformed and approached the man. He was sweating and panting, but still he stood over his wife. From where everyone stood, there was no change. Adrien took a step, but a raised hand from Gabriel stopped him. After another moment, the silence was broken.

"Emilie? Can you hear me?" Silence. "Emilie, please." Silence. "Don't do this to me."

"How did that not work?" whispered Adrien, leaning back into Marinette's embrace.

"I don't know," she replied.

"Poke."

Everyone's eyes shot back to Gabriel, seeing his hand retreating from the tube, his pointer finger extended. It went back in for another attack.

"Poke."

"Is he…poking her?" asked Chloe.

"Poke."

"Why is he poking mom?"

"Poke."

"Why is he saying poke?'" asked Nino.

"Quit it, just five more minutes."

"Nope," smiled Gabriel, "you've been asleep long enough, dear."

"Fine."

Gabriel stepped back and held out his hand, and another, slightly smaller hand rose and took it. He then helped Emilie sit up before she realized that she wasn't in her bed.

"Wait, what's going on? Where am I?"

"You're in the bunker, dear."

She gave him a deadpan look.

"Why am I in the bunker?"

"Mom?"

The emotional voice caught her off guard as she just then noticed their audience. The tall blonde boy hesitantly approached her, seeming not to know what she would do.

"It's alright, Adrien," said Gabriel. "All is finally right with the world."

"That's…Adrien?"

"MOM!"

The team watched the tearful reunion as Adrien hugged her and crying on his mother's shoulder as she looked at her husband in confusion. Gabriel smiled again and embraced his now complete family.

(B-D)

"Years? As in multiple years?"

"It's been three years, darling."

"And you, my little boy…"

"I'm seventeen, now."

"And she is…?"

"My girlfriend."

Emilie sat dumbfounded for a moment as Gabriel glanced at his son.

"I've missing so much," the woman moaned into her hands.

"You're not the only one," quipped Gabriel, getting raised eyebrows from the two teens.

The Agreste family plus Marinette were sitting in the family room, a room Adrien had forgotten about. There was a lot more color in this room, which didn't have to be much considering the pallet of the rest of the house. Adrien remembered that his mom had decorated this room herself, but neither of them had wanted to come here for obvious reasons. Everyone else had gone home to let the them recover from the eventful day. Gabriel was exhausted, Adrien was euphoric, Emilie was discombobulated, and Marinette was there for moral support.

"So my broach, I mean Miraculous, was damaged somehow and my using it put me into a coma for three years. You put me in suspended animation and became a freaking supervillain so you could get two magical items, I mean Miraculous, to make an honest to goodness wish, which might've cost us our son, just to get me back?"

Gabriel rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, when you put it like that…" he couldn't find the strength to argue, hand rubbing against the back of his head.

"And you were fighting our son and his girlfriend to do it?"

"In his defense, Mrs. Agreste," inserted Marinette, "he didn't know at the time. He surrendered to us once he found out, though."

"As I said earlier, call me Emilie, or mom." She smirked at the girl's mighty blush. "But anyway, why become a villain?"

"I lost my wife to a mysterious coma with no knowledge of how to reverse it accept for an ancient book that neither of us could read. I had nowhere else to go."

Emilie propped her face with her hands, letting out a huge sigh.

"Okay," she drawled, rubbing her temples. "Okay, this is a mess, but I think I can roll with this. I missed out on a lot, but I'll catch up. I would like to stay out of the public eye for a bit, though. I want to get used to things before I become famous, again."

"That shouldn't be an issue," said Gabriel. "The only people who know of your return can be trusted to keep it to themselves. Is that correct, son?"

Adrien started as he saw his father asking him this question. Was he testing him, now?

"Yes, father," he said with confidence. "Every one of my friends can be trusted."

"Then, as I stated before, I trust your judgement."

Adrien smiled as a tear managed to come out.

"What the?" mumbled Emilie. "Since when did you trust…?"

"I'm trying, Emilie," he interrupted.

She sighed. "Just another thing that's changed. Rolling with it." She paused for a moment as she sniffed at something in the air. "And what is that that reminds me of my hunger?"

At that moment Natalie entered the room carrying a pastry box.

"Your order from the T&S Boulangerie Patisserie, sir."

Adrien looked at his mom appreciatively. "I'm impressed."

"You may not remember, Adrien," commented Gabriel, "but your mother has a very keen sense of smell. I remember the last buffet we had attended. She was able to identify every dish in the line before we got our food."

The teens nodded in their respect as Natalie placed the box on the table. Emilie bowed her head for a moment before making for the box. At Marinette's suggestion, she tried out the passion fruit macron. Her arms dropped to her sides as she slowly chewed the deliciousness that was now her experience.

"Uh, oh."

"What is it, father?"

"That look."

"What look?"

Emilie was staring straight ahead as she swallowed the last of the macron.

"Who is responsible for this food?" Emilie asked in monotone.

"Well," started Marinette, "I did order it from my parents…"

"Who made this?" she asked in the same monotone voice, raising another macron to her face.

Marinette shrunk into her chair. "Um, I…I made those?"

"Did you, now?"

"…yes, ma'am."

Emilie walked around the table and placed a hand on both Adrien's and Marinette's shoulders. She bent to look the girl in the eye.

"You made this?"

"…yes…"

"In that case, from now on you will only refer to me a mom, understood?"

"…what?!"

"Son, make sure that happens."

A thumbs up was given. "Already working on it, mom."

"WHAT?!"

Gabriel sat back, watching the show before him with a smile. Overly dramatic, indeed, but his heart warmed at the sight. For the first time in years he felt complete. It would be a long road ahead of them, but seeing what he saw now, he knew that he had made the right decision. The next few weeks were going to be chaotic, but they would weather through it. With his wife back at his side (although he had a lot to make up to her, but it would be worth it), and now with an equally strong partner for his son, he felt something else that he hadn't felt for an eternity. Optimism. He had chosen to humble himself by surrendering to his son, and the powers that be had granted him a second chance at life, and he was not the type to waste it. His son would be happy not only because his mother was back, or that he had a girlfriend that he actually respected, but also because he would have a supportive father as well. His son had done what he could to make him happy. It was only fair to return the favor.

(B-D)

The End of the Light Wings

The End of Dark Wings have Fallen

A/N: And finally, another story complete. As you have probably figured (very likely, ya'll are smart), I wanted to be satisfied with this just being a one-shot. Now I have a two-prong story exploring the consequences of a single choice. Does Gabriel continue the path of darkness (Dark Wings) and do things his way, or does he humble himself and ask for help (Light Wings)? I let the characters do what they do and I just enjoyed the ride. I will admit, Emile kinda stole the show at the end. I wish I knew where that came from, but I couldn't be happier with how she turned out. I hope you all enjoyed it, too. Let me know in the reviews what you think. Hopefully that can encourage another story to come.

Also credit to my daughter, QueenPeace, and my niece, AriEden, for their design of the Fixer. I was stuck on his design and asked them for any ideas. They came up with a design from GachaLife Maker in about 5 minutes, including the sledgehammer and pickaxe. They're 10 and already super creative. I'm so proud of them.


End file.
